However, rather than turn against each other, the survivors draw upon the cooperative teamwork they learned through playing rugby at the Stella Maris College and their shared Catholic faith, in order to escape the mountains.

"[20] Principal photography took place in Sierra Nevada, Spain; Montevideo, Uruguay; Chile and Argentina, including the actual crash site in the Andes.

[24] In August 2021, the second unit, headed by Alejandro Fadel [es], Argentine director of Murder Me, Monster, filmed landscapes in Chile for reference in on-set virtual production and post-production.

[19][7] David Martí and Montse Ribé, Academy Award–winning special effects makeup artists of Pan's Labyrinth, created prosthetic corpses and wounds.

The website's consensus reads: "Society of the Snow brings masterful technical skill to bear on its tale of real-life tragedy, but none of that spectacle comes at the expense of its simple, powerful message.

[37] Roxana Hadadi of Vulture states that the film's “philosophical script and unshakeable performances” both “elevates” it and “pushes it into transcendence...not since Martin Scorsese’s Silence has a film so effectively asked us to consider whether faith is benevolence or a blight.”[38] Pete Hammond of Deadline suggests that Bayona's interpretation of the crash is "ultimately a spiritual journey on many levels, focusing on the human will to overcome the worst of circumstances," and that it is "a story of how humanity comes together for each other.

"[39] Wendy Ide of ScreenDaily argues that the Bayona's "adaptation of this much-filmed story is elevated by bracingly muscular action sequences," and that what sets it apart "is the decision not to focus entirely on the survivors.

"[40] Finally, Guy Lodge of Variety says that the film is composed of an “unstarry, fully Spanish-speaking cast” and is a “brawnily effective tear-jerker.” He also says that it has a “nuanced, non-denominational spiritualism, which further distinguishes it from the more straightforwardly inspirational adventure brief of the previous film.”[41] Carlos Boyero of El País found it was "a credible and emotional depiction of the horrible experience of the accident".

His only criticism was that "the strange, dark mystery of the Andes case is overlooked by Bayona; the weird suspicion that the experience has made the survivors “post-human”.

"[44] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter found the film to be "uneven but ultimately effective," told "with authenticity and chilling realism, with emotion but without sensationalism.

"[45] Professor Jorge Majfud (author of Cine político latinoamericano) argues that the film must be analyzed with a "critical look," suggesting that in addition to this story, there are "countless tragedies that decided the course of global history," which are ignored in cinema.

He also argues that "the Etragedia of the Andes has been marketed to tiredness like none of the terrible stories of thousands of torturers and disappearances of the lower classes in the same countries involved (Chile, Argentina and Uruguay).

A. Bayona received an email from Frank Marshall, director of the 1993 film Alive, which also depicted the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash and its aftermath.