#ivánmassagué

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The Platform (2019)

It isn’t enough for your movie to contain symbolism and allegories. It must also say something and give something to those who "don't get it". Even if you somehow miss what The Platform is actually about, it works. Grotesque, frightening, and suspenseful, it’ll make you think too. Even with some elements of the conclusion not quite adding up, it's smart.

Goreng (Iván Massagué) wakes up in a “Vertical Self-Management Center”, a sort of prison/testing institution that places two inmates on each of its many floors. His “partner” Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor) explains that food is delivered by a platform that allows those below to eat the leftovers of those above. As the supplies diminish with each floor, those at the bottom struggle to survive.

The Platform begins with a great, simple premise. Each month, everyone is given a new floor. Also, each person is allowed one item of their choice when they arrive. Poor Goreng chose a book. You know others brought something a little bit more useful in case they wake up on a low floor next to someone determined to survive. For the moment, things are ok. He’s a naive dreamer, his cellmate is a bit of a curmudgeon but he’s street-wise. It makes for a good dynamic as we learn the rules of this place.

Let’s set aside the metaphor and focus on the situation as presented. It’s terrific. Goreng wakes up on a relatively safe floor. What happens next month? Instantly, you’ve got moral dilemmas and tension. The situation gets more complicated the more you learn about the people and the world they inhabit. What security measures are in place to ensure things are “fair”? How can they be exploited? What are the Administration's true intentions? Piecing it together is loads of fun. You try to picture what you'd do if you were in this scenario. The system isn’t fair. You want to blame someone. The people at the top? Obviously but there’s always someone above them. A revolution's got to come. But how?

Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia with a screenplay by David Desolations and Pedro Rivero, you're given a lot to think about. Yes, it’s often pretty gross but the stomach churning images are necessary and there’s plenty of humour to make the violence and gore digestible. The brutality helps drive the point The Platform is making. This place gets more hellish the lower you go. Whether it’s the system, the people or a combination of both responsible matters little to those at the bottom. They aren’t in a position to make a difference. Who will step up? Everything serves a purpose, even the aspect of the conclusion that doesn’t quite hold up logically or metaphorically. Film-wise, it does. It’s a big twist that’ll have to itching to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing again. The Platform is the kind of movie you want to gather around with friends and discuss at length. (Original Spanish with English subtitles, July 28, 2020)