'The Platform' Is Insane

The Spanish film The Platform, also known as El Hoyo (“The Hole” in English), has one of the most interesting and most original science fiction thriller premises I’ve encountered in a while.  The story is set in the Pit a.k.a. the “Vertical Self-Management Center”, a large tower-style structure of multiple floors.  It basically serves as a prison for sentenced criminals, but people can also voluntarily enter it and stay for a set amount of time in exchange for a benefit.

Each floor of the tower is furnished like a prison cell, and houses two prisoners.  The exact number of floors is unbeknownst to the prisoners, but it’s hundreds at least.  At the middle of each floor is a hole, and through it, a platform descends once a day to feed the prisoners.  An exquisite spread is set on this platform, which stays on the floor for a certain period before it lowers down to the next.  This means that the prisoners on the lower floor eat the leftovers of those on the upper floor, and so on, as the amount and desirability of the food decreases as the platform travels.  Thus, those on the higher floors can have their fill, those on the middle floors have to manage with the scraps, and those on the lower floors are usually left with nothing.

Prisoners are also not allowed to set aside food for later.  They can only eat the food while the platform is on their floor.  If a prisoner of a floor breaks this rule, the temperature of their floor either grows hotter and hotter until he and his cellmate are baked to death or colder and colder until they’re frozen to death.

Moreover, once a month, the prisoners are randomly shuffled between floors.  They are gassed to sleep, and when they wake up, they find themselves on a new floor, but with the same cellmate.  This means that those at the top floors can find themselves transferred to the lower floors, and vice versa.

As expected, such system on place breeds an environment rife with conflict, death, bitterness, and chaos.  Actually, if well-rationed, the food on the platform is theoretically ample to feed everyone, if it’s rationed.  However, as typical of human depravity, greed, spite, and self-preservation win out, which prevents any cooperation among prisoners from ever happening.

I feel that this movie is worth a watching based on its interesting premise alone, so I don’t feel like giving a more detailed plot synopsis aside from this: it revolves around a man named Goreng (Iván Massagué), who voluntarily entered the Pit in exchanged for an accredited certificate.

Besides, I don’t feel that the narrative – fairly absorbing as it is – is as strong as the premise.  Still, it explores the intriguing implications of its setup quite well enough.

As usual from science fiction films of this kind, The Platform attempts to have underlying meaning.  The Pit is intended to serve as a thought experiment on the human condition, obviously (which I remember is the favorite word of one the characters. Lol).  And it seems like the characters represent certain ideologies and philosophies.  However, in the end, I’m not sill entirely sure if the movie is being deep or pretentious with this.  Also, I think it’s guilty of  some false analogies with its message.

Moreover, as is also the case with such movies, not only does the audience need to unlock the undertones, but the actualities in the narrative are also left open for interpretation – especially with its ending (in which – SPOILER – I think certain rules have been broken, and thus, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is at some point in the movie, everything has only been happening in a dying Goreng’s head).

In the end, as what I already mentioned, The Platform is worth watching for its unique premise alone.  Even with its ambiguities, I find it satisfyingly unsettling, unpredictable, provocative, and fascinating.