The Platform (2019) Review

     I am writing this past four in the morning having just watched The Platform. I am kept awake, not out of astonishment, or awe, or fear, but pure anger, for having wasted my time on this movie.

     The Platform depicts inmates placed in a vertical prison (named The Hole) made up of hundreds of levels, with two individuals on each floor. The title of the film is derived from the concrete platform which delivers a banquet of food downward every day, from the highest level all the way to the bottom. Those at the top have the privilege of eating as much as they wish and those on lower floors will have to settle for the unappetizing leftovers. As the platform descends even lower, no food is left, and you can take a wild guess on what becomes the substitute.

     I was extremely drawn to the premise of The Platform and set aside everything else for it. I built up the anticipation in my head for days, which was why the disappointment hit me harder than usual. I do not remember the last time I experienced this wave of anger after finishing a movie.

     If you know me well, you might know that I’m a sucker for excellent world-building. I love context. I love details. I love information. If you’re bringing us into your world, you have to make it believable. After all, to pull off a dystopian science fiction thriller is plenty of ambition since it has a heavy burden to carry.

     Let us first start with the good parts. Without a doubt, the social allegory in The Platform is excellent. The Hole is a metaphor for a class system born out of human greed and how capitalism thrives in such a system. Those in power will always take more than what they need, disregarding the less privileged. The film also portrays the extent humans are willing to go when driven by hunger. Morals become less important than survival, and rational thought is taken over by instinct.

"You've got a good heart. I don't think you'll survive long."

       The Platform contained the right amount of discomfort; enough to maintain attention, but not so excessive that it pushes viewers away. However, the gore is not something everybody can stomach, so you should be warned beforehand. The introduction of each character was also important to drive the plot forward; every one of them had a role to play and a lesson to convey.

       (This paragraph contains a very minor spoiler.) Under the law, all inmates are allowed to bring a single possession into The Hole, and their choice of item speaks volumes of their character. One of my favourite parts of this movie was only a second long, featuring an unnamed supporting character - another inmate - who had stacks of cash with him. Money has the value of dirt in The Hole, but he made the decision to bring it, and cherished it more than food. This was a reminder that greed can blind us from seeing how money has absolutely zero worth in certain situations, yet we still cling to it tightly.

       Now, moving on to the less than satisfactory parts of this film. If you’ve done your homework on The Platform, you would know that it has an open ending which was frustrating to many viewers. Fortunately, the open ending led to a plethora of excellent independent interpretations, all of which you can easily find with a quick Google search.

       Surprisingly, my biggest problem with The Platform was not the open ending, but rather, the lack of context. I patiently sat through the entire film, only to be left with countless unanswered questions. Is this prison state-run? Do innocent people know how the facility works before willingly admitting themselves into it? Are criminals seen as scum of the society, so it doesn’t matter if they kill themselves off every day? Who is The Administration? What follows the ending? What kind of society is this supposed to be? Is The Hole actually a facility for an elaborate and fucked up social experiment?

       The Platform is one of those films which try to be ‘unconventional’ and ‘dark’ using common methods such as addressing heavy topics and incorporating a gore fest. The gruesome scenes fooled viewers into thinking that the film was ‘philosophical’ and ‘deep’, but after the initial shock, was it enjoyable at all? The lazy writing was infuriating; the world was not properly developed, the background provided was insufficient, and too much of interpretation was left to the viewers.

       I’ve thought long and hard about how to better paraphrase the exasperation I experienced and this is the best I can come up with. This movie is what happens if you take The Hunger Games and remove all the context - the workings of the society of Panem, the Capitol in power controlling the 12 Districts, the reason behind the Games taking place - and is left with nothing but the gore. The Platform had brilliant points to make, but the execution was half-arsed.

       Before wrapping things up, I’d like to at least give praise to how they nailed the overall atmosphere by evoking this constant sense of uneasiness. This film challenges its viewers to think about the filthy side of humanity which may be unleashed if laws and ethics do not hold us in place. However, The Platform failed to deliver as much as it promised. Many films in the past have attempted to explore the same subject, and many more will do so in the future, but this one fell flat for me (4.5/10).

***

The Platform (2019) is available for viewing on Netflix.