The Platform is a Netflix original movie that came out in 2019.
A sequel came out in 2024, but I’m not going to bother with this one, it wasn’t necessary and doesn’t add much.
« There are three kinds of people : the ones above, the ones below, and the ones who fall.”
A descent into social hell
What starts as a spanish horror movie quickly turns into a social class allegory, with a deep analysis of the power imbalances and injustices of the system at large.
The platform starts with what seems to be a job interview. Six months in a huge concrete building, and your criminal record gets wiped clean. It’s basically a social experiment, in a controlled environment.
You don’t get paid, but you climb the social ladder.
You get to bring one personal item.
Important note : Someone bring a dog. It does not end well. Beware if you don’t like those types of movies.
The rules of the pit : food and despair
The cells are stacked vertically, separated by a giant square hole in the middle that seems to descend into hell itself. Defying physics and gravity, it’s clearly meant to take place in a similar yet adjacent universe to ours.
A platform loaded with a banquet of food, made by michelin chefs, descends once a day through said hole.
Serving floor after floor with shrinking amounts of food.
The participants are bunked in pairs, and the rules are simple : the higher your level, the more you eat.
By the time the platform reaches the lower levels, there is nothing left but empty porcelain, despair and either cannibalism or death.
The world tour analogy
If you’re into K-pop, you’ll see what I mean (if not, sorry). While not a perfect example, as the members are exploited as well, picture the company meetings as the ones who deal with the Platform projet.
The upper levels are the content and interactions made by celebrities in Korea and Japan for rich fans.
Between levels 50 & 100 are the thoughts given to the rest of Asia, the UK, Australia and America.
Between 100 & 150 are the content we recieve in Europe.
And below 150 are Africa, Russia,Eastern europe, theMiddle east and all the forgotten ones.
I know I’ve lost a few of you here, but most fans of famous bands will get this analogy while looking at any world tour. And pop up store. Or any fan event really.
We get starving in the 100s.
Survival vs. morality
The movie explores the idea of choices, balance, and resilience.
The thin line between freedom, social responsibility and oblivion.
It’s always easier to be civilized when you are spoon fed with golden utensils than when you have to fight for survival or basic needs like… well, food.
The « one location » helps sell the despair as well. The platform being the bridge, you get to witness the prestige of the wealthy, and the descent into the madness of the poor that are left behind in a system that doesn’t care about them.
Our protagonist being a social justice warrior shows where the moral compass should lie, but sadly doesn’t.
Capitalism sucks, and we are all forced to live in its hellscape.
We live in the Platform universe. We are the prisoners.
It’s a very interesting take on elevated horror that gets out of the beaten path to create something new and profound. The movie kinda sticks with you if you have an ounce of empathy.
If you’re in the ruling class, you’ll probably dismiss it, like you do the homeless on the streets as you eat your life away in willing ignorance.
It is brilliantly executed. The ending is a bit wonky but we’ll allow it for the message is important.
Be it either the panna cotta, the child or the social injustice the world we live in thrives on.
My rating: 4.5 bats (the ending doesn’t do it for me)
🦇🦇🦇🦇🎤
(Picture a Stray Kids Korean pop up store as the half eaten bat)