The 305th review!
I’m a little bummed so far I haven’t had a movie that has really scared me. Part of the reason I do this every year is because so few horror movies scare me anymore. No, that’s not me bragging, it’s just I’ve seen so may that it’s hard to get genuinely frightened during a movie. Thankfully I had last year’s Terrified, but nothing else has come close. For tonight, I went with a movie based on multiple recommendations and watched...
The Platform (2019). Netflix
Well, the search for scary continues, but I’m not complaining because this movie is really good! A man wakes up in a cell with an older gentleman sitting across from him. The pair are in a very unique prison cell. There’s no bars, just an empty room with two beds, a sink, toilet and in the middle is a hole that seems to go on forever. The reason for the hole is a platform that comes down for two minutes once a day with a banquet of food. Problem is, that’s the only food for the entire prison, people only get to eat what those on the floors above them didn’t get to. So the people on floor one have two minutes to eat whatever they can, those below then pick it up from there, and so on and so forth until those on the floors down below just get an empty platform every day. This happens for 30 days, then the prison gets filled with gas knocking everyone out and when you wake up, you’re on a completely different floor.
As you can imagine, things get ugly the lower you go. And those who were on, say, floor 150, completely lose all empathy for their situation once they wake up on a higher floor. It’s a very psychological film and it’s exceedingly interesting. For our main character, his cellmate survived floor 138, admitted to eating human flesh and has a very sharp knife on him. So while they had a comfortable month on floor 38, you know things can get ugly quick.
This movie is really good. It’s violent, thought-provoking, incredibly tense, depressing and ultra violent. It can be really difficult to watch at times and at others it’s impossible to look away. It takes you on a wild ride as our main character serves his six month volunatary (more on that later) sentence and it fills you with instant dread or relief as he finishes out a month. The Platform has a lot to say and it says it in a very convincing manner. But their control group isn’t your average citizen, the vast majority of the people in this structure are criminals, so they’re already there because they didn’t follow society’s laws, which I think hurts the message a little.
While the movie really makes you think, it’s best not to ponder some of the finer details of this movie. Like, this is a prison, but people can choose to go in there. The protagonist is going to leave after six months with some kind of degree. I don’t quite understand that part. What is the company’s gain for letting people in? I understand the prisoners, but our main character had an actual interview process to get in. We don’t get many glimpses of what life is like outside the cell, just a few shots of cooks and one man screaming at them. I’m sure a sequel will expand more on why innocents are in there, but I’d rather they didn’t because I can’t imagine it’ll do a good enough job explaining the mystery. At least in The Running Man they had a reason, for the entertainment of viewers, but from what little we know of the outside world, it doesn’t seem like a dystopia, so I can’t imagine people are clamoring to see people literally eat each other.
I’ve mentioned it earlier, but it’s a really gripping movie. Our main character ends up going through a few cellmates and I liked each of them for different reasons. The protagonist is a good person, he has a good heart in a place that doesn’t allow it. It’s fascinating watching the journey he goes on and how each cellmate helps him get there. Everything he goes through with each person he interacts with brings him a step closer. There were no wasted interactions because looking back on it, everything he experienced helped him reach a fitting conclusion, even if it was a violent and very bloody journey.
It’s good, really good and definitely worth a watch. It’s been sticking with me and I’ve been playing over some things in my head hours after watching it. Just don’t think so much of the “how” and the “why” and you’ll be better off. Go watch it. If you’re not squeamish, you’re going to really like it. But, they killed a dog, so fuck this movie. Obviously.
6 Dr. Chainsaws!
It would be an 8, but that dog, man.
The Platform
2019
TV-MA
1h 34m
A slab of food descends floor by floor in a prison. The inmates above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent. Starring: Iván Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor
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