The Platform: Those with Weak Stomachs Should Not Partake

Prisoners living in vertical cell blocks where the inmates above are fed while those below starve. How do they survive on the lower floors? The Platform is a 2019 Spanish Netflix film production taking place in the stark confines of the so-called “Vertical Self-Management Center.” Once a day, a smorgasbord of food descends through the hole in the tower. The prisoners are allowed only a couple minutes to feed before the food is lowered to the people below them. If the people at the top only took what they needed, there’d be enough food for everyone. Nobody ever does that.

Each level has two people sharing a sparse, concrete cell. Each month, the pairings are split up and moved to different levels. This is the equalizer. One month you’re feasting, the next you’re starving. It turns out everyone is just as selfish when fate delivers a bountiful supper. What starts out up top as a buffet of meats, wine, desserts, and even escargot, is gradually reduced to bones, crumbs, and disgusting leftovers. On the bottom levels nothing is left.

One inmate, Goreng (Ivan Massague), sets out to change things. He gets a high floor and rides the food platform down attempting to prevent the upper levels from eating, and at a certain point, rationing the food into portions from there on down. Violence and desperation ensue.

The simple premise of the movie is witty and suspenseful. The film is a wild ride sending you up and down the tower to who knows what. At times, you want to look away, but can’t. The music accentuates the silent horror of the situation. The Platform is not for everyone. I’m not sure how much it was for me. It’s dark, grisly, and not for weak stomachs, in more ways than one (violence and eating). It’s a cynical look at humanity. We’re not all that bad, are we? No, but the pandemic has shown us that the actions of some people have implications for the rest of us. Vaccine opposition and shopping carts full of toilet paper, for instance. It makes you think about it. The ending of the movie is left open to interpretation. There could be some hope in the final scene, but it depends on how you look at it.

D² Rating ◼◼◪☐☐

Trivia ? – The Platform won the People’s Choice Awards for Midnight Madness at this Canadian Film Festival?

Answer: Toronto