Horror Movie Talk

The Platform Review


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We watched The

Platform on Netflix with a bunch of HMT fans over the Chrome Netflix Party
extension and boy, I love this movie! While I am certain that lots of purists
will debate whether this is horror or not, I assure you, it’s worth the watch
and will definitely find some way to make your skin crawl. The timing of this
release makes me wonder if Netflix has a bunch of totally apropos titles just
waiting in the wings to be released whenever they are most relevant. 

@dgoebel00 on Instagram provided this amazing artwork. Follow him and check out his website.
The Platform Synopsis

The Platform is about a

prison called the pit where there are three kinds of people; the ones above,
the ones below, and the ones who fall. This is a twisted place where every cell
contains two people and is stacked on top of a seemingly endless column of
other cells. 

https://youtu.be/6gVAIx7OeyI

Every day there is a

massive banquet comprised of everyone in the prison’s favorite dish. This
banquet contains enough calories for everyone in the pit to survive. The catch
is the banquet is placed on a platform that stops at every cell for a short
time, and it starts at the top and works its way down.

Some prisoners are there

by choice, some are there because of a crime, but there seems to be a promise
that is made to all of them upon entry into the pit – if you do your time and
make it out, you will be granted increased social standing. 

Our protagonist is a man

called Goreng (Ivan Massagué), who spends time with several of
the inmates of the pit. As he learns the ropes, he also seems to take issue
with the inherent societal problems that it represents: greed and desperation.

The Platform REVIEW

The Platform is a

Spanish film by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, and it’s one of the most
unique ideas that I’ve seen put to the screen since Cube

Watch Cube on Amazon

The spiritual predecessor to The Platform

Click Here to Watch

The minimal but rigid

design of the pit echos in the sci-fi dystopian walls of the film itself.

You know the sick and

twisted world that lay in the basement of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs? That terrifying
and perverse reality that we like to forget exists in the real world? That
feeling is magnified in The Platform and made the subject of the entire
movie. 

MMM, tastes like class oppression!

To make it even more

hard-hitting, The Platform is clearly a commentary on humans and society today.
While it’s hard to draw many direct analogies with the real world, the standout
one seems to be human nature and the greed inherent therein.

The Platform is not without hope, but it is chock-full of extreme violence,

imagery, and ideas that make this a real stomach turner.  

This movie stays with

me, and I wouldn’t mind watching it again. It doesn’t hold your hand, and there
is clearly a lot of theorizing that one can do to try and determine the
symbology and lessons within. 

Score for The
Platform

9/10

Spoilers

The Platform does a lot of things right. It maintains

mystery, drama, tension, and is clearly meant to stand for something. Anything
that you might be interested in, this movie probably touches on it. On top of
all of that, it doesn’t hold your hand, leaving you free to interpret it’s
message or take it at face value.

ECHO, ECho, echo

In favor of spoiling the movie point by point, I will

instead share with you a few basic premises of this movie that I find the most
relevant and exciting.

The Rules of The Pit

The prison known as “the pit” is a mostly lawless place with

a few given rules. They are as follows:

  • Some prisoners have opted in, others are being
  • punished, but upon serving your time in the pit, you will be granted elevated
    social status.
  • Everyone is allowed to bring one item with them
  • to the pit.
  • The platform contains everyone within the prison’s
  • favorite meal made to perfect standards.
  • The platform arrives on each level containing a live
  • person once a day for some short amount of time.
  • Each set of prisoners spend one month on the level
  • that they are randomly assigned. If you lose your cellmate, you will be given
    another upon placement next month.
  • At the end of a month, all prisoners are put to
  • sleep by gas and placed, randomly on a new level.
  • Anything goes within the pit. There is no law or
  • order that can be broken.
  • If you try to hold on to food for later, the
  • temperature of your cell will be raised or lowered until your death.
    The Meaning of The Platform

    I really enjoy movies that clearly have a purpose or message,

    and that purpose or message is left somewhat obscured. I won’t tell you what it
    means because I don’t know for sure. I will tell you what it could mean.

    Hell Allegory

    There is an obvious allusion to the pit being hell because

    there are 333 cells within it, which means there are 666 prisoners. Besides, it’s
    just about as hellish as you can imagine, especially on the lower levels, which
    seems like a nod to Dante’s Inferno.

    At the very least it’s some sort of purgatory, where people

    do their time and wait for judgement. At the worst it means torture and death.
    Even living can mean hellish conditions like someone keeping you alive to feast
    on you gradually to make sure your flesh doesn’t spoil as quickly.

    Socio-Economic Allegory

    Goreng decides to bring a book with him to the pit, but not

    just any book. He brings Don Quixote, a book whose main character is a
    proponent of equal rights. This is interesting because everyone’s rights within
    the pit are equal, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be happy about it. Equal
    rights and equal outcomes are different beasts, and here equal outcomes are not
    law.

    It’s clear that The Platform is meant to be a

    commentary on capitalism. Capitalism is an interesting beast because it allows
    you to succeed or fail, but guarantees nothing. Capitalism doesn’t play
    favorites, so many end up losing.

    Final Recommendation

    If you are a fan of psychological horror or Cube, you

    will enjoy this movie as long as you have a strong stomach. It’s not gore-porn,
    but there are disturbing concepts throughout. I had a blast watching this, and
    the dubbing didn’t bother me one bit.

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