Director: Galder Gaztelu-Irrutia
Writer: David Desola, Pedro Rivero (Screenplay)
Starring: Ivan Massague, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale, Alexandra Masangkay, Zihara Llana, Mario Pardo
Plot: A vertical prison with one cell per level. Two people per cell. One only food platform and two minutes per day to feed from up to down. An endless nightmare trapped in The Pit.
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Outstandingly Original
Story: The Platform starts when Goreng (Massague) wakes up in a room with one cellmate Trimagasi (Eguileor), the cell has a hole in the middle and they are on level 48. Goreng gets the answers about the different levels in the structure, with them being nearer the middle, giving them options on the food supplies that get lowered to each level daily, with the people lower down getting whatever the levels above leaves.
After the first month, the pair find themselves near the very bottom of the system, which brings out a darker side of Trimagasi, where Goreng gets to learn more about the harsh reality, he finds himself in.
Thoughts on The Platform
Characters – Goreng has volunteered to be part of this prison, in exchange for a degree, he wants to understand this procedure and wants to make a change, only to learn that he can only hope, he learns the reality of where he finds himself and must learn to survive with different cellmates. Trimagasi is the first cellmate that Goreng has, he has been in the prison for months and has been at the highest and lowest levels, knowing what it takes to survive the different levels. Imoguiri is second cell mate that Goreng has, she has worked for the company for years and has volunteered to be part of this, believing she could make a change. We do see other people in the prison, with ideas of trying to get out as well as seeing how the people who run it operate.
Performances – Ivan Massague is great in the leading role, he shows how his character evolves through the events of his time in the prison. Zorion Eguileor fills in the gaps very well through the film, which is what most of the other actors do in the film, they give us the information to help on the journey.
Story – The story follows a man that wakes up in a prison with one cellmate and a hole in the middle of the room, where each day a platform with food a arrives on each level, with the lower down the building you are, the less food you receive with you only getting what the above rooms leave. This is an exceptional story that dives into greed and consumerism, show how people will always want to take more than they deserve, which will cause problems to the ones below. The story does give us the idea that desperation could bring out the worst in people and shows that the weak will not last in this situation unless they can convince the dangerous ones to work together.
Horror/Sci-Fi – The horror in this film comes from the situation the characters find themselves in, the battle to survive the problems, with the structure coming straight out of the wildest sci-fi imagination, when you think of the pure size of this structure.
Settings – The film is set inside of a prison structure with different levels, the rooms have a hole in which a platform of food arrives on daily, we don’t know how many levels we are going through here, which leaves us wondering of the pure scale of the structure.
Special Effects – The film uses the effects to show us how the injuries are inflicted when it comes to the fights and even showing us the scale of the building.
Scene of the Movie – Goreng and Baharat journey.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The above world either need to not exist or exist more than we get.
Final Thoughts – This is a thought-provoking film that asks very big questions and highlights the problems in the world, with an added chapter of Cube.
Overall: Wonderful
