I was recommended this film and while I did enjoy it and it is a film that is right up my street, I did feel that it was a bit on the nose with what it was trying to tell us.

The Platform follows a new type of jail where there are many, many different platforms that go down through a shaft and on each of the levels two people reside. These two people have clearly ended up in the hole for one reason or another and you can tell that none of them are good.

We follow the main character that voluntarily went into the hole and we see how he deals with it being quite a soft character. Every month the two cell mates are transported to a different platform and no one knows how many platforms there are, and each day a block of food is sent down each of the platforms and the people have to gorge themselves with this food, but that also means that the people on the lower platforms don’t get any. It’s all about hierarchy in a civilisation and how if people at the top weren’t so greedy the people at the bottom could live a good life instead of resorting to murder and cannibalism and anger towards the people above.

But there is also an interesting element to this and that’s that everyone moves platforms randomly at the same time each month. Someone who is on the bottom platform and has had to starve for a month could move to the top platform and then that changes the way they look at things, because they believe that they deserve to gorge and to eat as much as they can because of what they’ve gone through, but then they are also putting someone else into a situation where they will have to starve. It’s a fantastic look at society, but it is very on the nose because you’re literally watching people in a hole eating food and realising that this capitalist society is not working and we have to be more Communist to allow everyone to have their share.

It’s fascinating because of how you see the characters change. The ending was really interesting and the resolution was fascinating to watch, I think you can come out with a lot of good lessons from it, about how you shouldn’t be so greedy with what you have, and if you can help others then you should. But at the same time you do have to wonder how quickly you go back to your animal instincts if you were in the hole too.

This film is quite gory, it’s quite bloody, but it’s going to be because that’s the whole premise. People end up in the hole because it’s an easy way for them to kill each other and then society doesn’t have to deal with them anymore. I also thought it was fascinating how each person that went into the hole could bring one item and our main character that we follow brings a book, which according to other characters has never been done before. Other characters bring rope so they can climb out of the hole, they bring machetes, they bring cherished pets, they bring things that will help them in the hole that they think is best and it’s interesting that our main character that is the one that is able to cause the revolution and bring change to the system brings a book which is obviously a symbol of knowledge.

I really enjoyed this film. It’s very on the nose of what it is trying to tell you but it’s still enjoyable. It makes you wonder what you would do if you ended up in that situation and what item you would bring with you and how you would survive.

What do you think of The Platform?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding