Is “Yellowjackets” based on a true story? Here's what inspired the twisted thriller

The first season of the Showtime thriller Yellowjackets made its Netflix debut on October 2nd. As viewers watch the exhilarating horror drama, they may be curious as to whether Yellowjackets based on reality or is completely fictional.

Yellowjackets The series originally premiered on Showtime in November 2021. The series follows a talented high school girls soccer team whose journey to the national championship takes a tragic turn when their plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. Stranded, the teenagers must do everything to survive, from finding food to hunting wild animals.

In the present day, the girls – now adults – are preparing for their 25th high school reunion. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Nat (Juliette Lewis) and Misty (Christina Ricci) struggle to overcome the trauma of their dark past, which continues to impact their relationships and careers. Now they will anything to protect what really happened in the forest.

With Yellowjackets Now available on Netflix, first-time viewers may be wondering what the inspiration behind the series is and whether the girls' harrowing experiences are based on true events. Here's what you should know while watching.

Is Yellowjackets Based on a true story?

TV series from Showtime Yellowjackets is not based on a true story. However, the show draws inspiration from both real life and fiction, including the Flight 571 disaster, William Golding's novel “Lord of the Flies” and the fictional gangster Tony Soprano.

“Lord of the Flies”

Ashley Lyle, co-creator of Yellowjackets along with her husband Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco, told the New York Times in November 2021 that she was inspired by an article about a remake of William Golding's “Lord of the Flies.”

Written in 1954, the novel is about a group of prep school students who find themselves stranded on an island. First they try to establish order and elect a leader named Ralph. But over time, their civilized behavior deteriorates, leading to chaos and cruelty.

Lyle noted that comments in the article were skeptical that girls would fall into such barbarism. She recalled one man commenting, “What are they going to do? Collaborate to the death?” In response, she thought, “You were never a teenage girl, sir.”

“There was a girl in my high school who poisoned another girl’s food for fun,” she added. “Just showing girls getting along isn’t the complete picture.” In YellowjacketsLyle wanted to highlight the importance of relationships between girls, calling some of her high school friendships “the most important in my life.”

In November 2021, Ashley Lyle further discussed the show's inspiration from the 1954 book on The Hollywood Reporter's “TV's Top Five” podcast.

“'Lord of the Flies' is about how socialization disappears and society is just a facade. We thought, 'Who is more socialized than women?'” she said. “As a girl, you learn early on how to get others to like you and what the social hierarchies are.”

The Flight 571 disaster

Yellowjackets also draws inspiration from the tragedy of Flight 571, according to Netflix's Tudum. On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes en route from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile. Thirty-two survivors – mostly members of the Old Christians Club amateur rugby team and their family and friends – had to take extreme measures to stay alive.

After 72 days of stranding, they were finally rescued, but only 16 people survived the dangerous conditions, including freezing temperatures, avalanches and starvation. The tragedy was the subject of the Netflix feature film Society of Snowwhich was nominated for an Oscar in 2023. In contrast to the Andes disaster, the girls are in Yellowjackets are stranded for an extended period of time – two years.

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Survivors and families were involved in the production Society of Snow. A Only a few survivors even made cameo appearances in the film. For example, Fernando “Nando” Parrado (who walked 38 miles from the plane crash site into the valleys of Chile) is seen opening the door for the actor portraying him Scene at Carrasco Airport in Montevideo. Survivor Roberto Canessa also played an extra in the hospital, while Carlos Páez Rodríguez, the youngest man in the plane crash, portrayed his father and read the names of the survivors on the radio.

Tony Soprano

In a March 2023 interview with THR, Lyle shared another source of inspiration Yellowjackets was Tony Soprano, the gangster portrayed by the late James Gandolfini in the popular HBO drama series. The sopranos.

“Tony Soprano is an absolute monster – but because he's so well drawn, you understand him. That is our goal,” she explained. “We have conversations about what might go too far, but it's less about the likeability of the characters and more about the nature of the story. We never want to be shocking and offensive for the sheer joy of it.”

Season 1 of Yellowjackets is now streaming on Netflix. You can watch season 2 on Paramount+.