The issue I have with any recent movie in the last couple decades is they put "based on a true story" while not even trying to follow any of the actual events.
It's along the lines of the story writer reading about the Revolutionary War, and then involving jet skis and aliens in the timeline, and then claiming it was "based on a true story." Although I'm sure there are many earlier examples, "A Perfect Storm" is the first one I remember. Essentially, the only thing they knew about the boat was that it sank out at sea after losing radio contact. Somehow they turned that into an an over 2 hour movie. None of anything in that movie was verifiably true other than the names and possibly the characteristics of the people.
This movie is worse, because it had a somewhat rich source of information from the survivors in which to try and follow the true story. Basically none of that was even touched on. The entire movie was "hey, some people might have been cannibals," and then they made a villain.
If you are looking for something that will actually tell you what the Donner Party was like, do not watch this film. I'd suggest a documentary instead. Otherwise, this film is about as true to the source as "Cannibal: The Musical," and that film was more enjoyable.
It's along the lines of the story writer reading about the Revolutionary War, and then involving jet skis and aliens in the timeline, and then claiming it was "based on a true story." Although I'm sure there are many earlier examples, "A Perfect Storm" is the first one I remember. Essentially, the only thing they knew about the boat was that it sank out at sea after losing radio contact. Somehow they turned that into an an over 2 hour movie. None of anything in that movie was verifiably true other than the names and possibly the characteristics of the people.
This movie is worse, because it had a somewhat rich source of information from the survivors in which to try and follow the true story. Basically none of that was even touched on. The entire movie was "hey, some people might have been cannibals," and then they made a villain.
If you are looking for something that will actually tell you what the Donner Party was like, do not watch this film. I'd suggest a documentary instead. Otherwise, this film is about as true to the source as "Cannibal: The Musical," and that film was more enjoyable.