The Platform (film)
Imagine a towering, self-contained prison where food descends once a day on a single platform, starting full at the top and emptying as it goes down. This isn't just a dystopian fantasy; it's The Platform, a chilling Spanish thriller that plunges viewers into a stark social experiment. It forces us to confront the harrowing realities of human nature, challenging what we believe about empathy and survival when resources are brutally scarce. The film masterfully critiques societal inequality and resource distribution through a brutal, allegorical setting. Human empathy and cooperation are tested to their limits in a system designed to foster extreme selfishness and division. Its disturbing narrative forces viewers to grapple with complex moral choices, revealing the potential for both depravity and altruism within us all.
AI Summary
Imagine a towering, self-contained prison where food descends once a day on a single platform, starting full at the top and emptying as it goes down. This isn't just a dystopian fantasy; it's The Platform, a chilling Spanish thriller that plunges viewers into a stark social experiment. It forces us to confront the harrowing realities of human nature, challenging what we believe about empathy and survival when resources are brutally scarce.
- The film masterfully critiques societal inequality and resource distribution through a brutal, allegorical setting.
- Human empathy and cooperation are tested to their limits in a system designed to foster extreme selfishness and division.
- Its disturbing narrative forces viewers to grapple with complex moral choices, revealing the potential for both depravity and altruism within us all.
Welcome to the Pit
Our story begins with Goreng, who awakens in a cell numbered 48, bewildered by his new reality. He's in what's known as the 'Vertical Self-Management Center' — a towering, industrial prison structure with hundreds of levels, all connected by a single, terrifying vertical shaft. This is no ordinary jail; it's a brutal social experiment designed to expose humanity's rawest instincts.
The Rules of the Game
Each day, a lavish banquet of food descends from 'level 0' on a platform, stopping for precisely two minutes on each floor. Prisoners can only eat what's available during that brief window. If they attempt to hoard food or keep any after the platform leaves, their cell rapidly becomes lethally hot or cold. Crucially, every month, prisoners are randomly reassigned to a new level — a lottery of fate that could place them anywhere from the top to the very bottom.
Goreng's first cellmate, Trimagasi, is a hardened veteran of the pit. He quickly educates Goreng on the harsh realities: the upper levels feast, often indulging in wasteful gluttony, while the lower levels starve, receiving only scraps or nothing at all. This creates a vicious cycle of resentment, desperation, and conflict, where every meal is a reminder of profound injustice.
Trimagasi also shares a chilling confession: during a previous stay on level 132, he resorted to cannibalism to survive. He explains that Goreng volunteered for six months in exchange for a diploma, while he himself is serving a year for manslaughter. These revelations paint a grim picture of the lengths people go to, both to enter and to survive this bizarre vertical world.
Descent into Despair
The random reassignments mean a constant shift in fortune. When Goreng and Trimagasi are moved to level 171 — deep into the pit — their already fragile situation deteriorates rapidly. Trimagasi, driven by hunger, turns on Goreng, planning to feed on his flesh. This horrific act reveals the depths of depravity the system can induce in its inhabitants.
A mysterious woman named Miharu intervenes, freeing Goreng and leading to a violent confrontation where Trimagasi is killed. Encouraged by Miharu, Goreng consumes Trimagasi's flesh, a choice that both ensures his survival and condemns him to haunting hallucinations of his former cellmate. The pit demands unimaginable sacrifices, twisting its residents into unrecognizable versions of themselves.
The following month, Goreng awakens on level 33 with a new cellmate: Imoguiri, a former administration official who interviewed Goreng before his entry. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, she chose to enter the pit herself. Imoguiri represents a stark contrast to Trimagasi, attempting to foster civility and ration food, even feeding her dog, Ramesses II, on alternate days, but her efforts are met with resistance.
Her idealism is soon shattered. Miharu, injured from her endless quest to find her supposed child, temporarily joins them. But in a shocking turn, Miharu kills and eats Ramesses II. Imoguiri later reveals a horrifying truth: there are no children in the pit, making Miharu's quest — and her very presence — an enigma. The system itself seems to strip away sanity and truth.
Another month brings another descent, this time to level 202. Goreng finds Imoguiri has tragically taken her own life, unable to cope with the pit's brutal reality. Again, driven to the brink of starvation, Goreng consumes her flesh, continuing his horrifying cycle of survival and psychological torment, his mind now crowded with the spectral figures of his deceased companions.
A Spark of Rebellion
Goreng's luck takes a turn when he lands on level 6. Here, he meets Baharat, a religious man who has repeatedly tried to escape the pit. Goreng, now having witnessed the system from both ends, convinces Baharat to join him in a daring plan: to descend with the platform and force rationing upon the other prisoners. Their aim is to ensure everyone gets a fair share, starting with the first 50 levels that always eat well.
Their journey downward is violent and confrontational. They fight those who resist their rationing, enforcing a brutal form of distributive justice. An older prisoner, Sr. Brambang, offers a different perspective, suggesting civility over violence. He convinces them to send a 'message' to the administration by leaving a single, perfect panna cotta untouched, hoping it reaches level 0 as a symbol of rebellion and self-restraint.
The Message and the Child
As Goreng and Baharat continue their descent, distributing portions and clashing with desperate inmates, they encounter Miharu again, under attack. In the ensuing struggle, she is mortally wounded. Severely injured themselves, Goreng and Baharat press on, their mission now more personal than ever.
Their harrowing journey finally leads them to level 333, the very bottom of the pit. To Goreng's astonishment, he discovers a child — Miharu's daughter — hidden beneath the last bed. This revelation shatters everything he thought he knew about the 'Vertical Self-Management Center.' They reluctantly feed her the symbolic panna cotta, realizing she is the true message.
Baharat awakens Goreng, declaring, 'The girl is the message.' But the subsequent events blur the lines between reality and Goreng's increasingly fractured mind. Goreng believes he must ride the platform back up to deliver this 'message,' only for a hallucination of Trimagasi to tell him, 'The message requires no bearer.' Goreng and the child step off, watching as the platform, carrying only the girl, ascends back into the unknown.
Behind the Screen: The Film's Vision
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, The Platform premiered to critical acclaim at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness. Soon after, Netflix acquired worldwide streaming rights, bringing this thought-provoking Spanish film to a global audience.
Crafting the Allegory
The director has explicitly stated that the film's core message is a critique of our own society, emphasizing the urgent need for a fair distribution of wealth. It explores how individual initiative, or the lack thereof, can drive — or thwart — political and social change. The 'Vertical Self-Management Center' is a potent metaphor for stratified societies, where those at the top consume excessively while those below suffer.
The screenplay, originally a theater script, underwent 'extensive' and 'torturous' rewrites to add the action and physical elements necessary for a cinematic experience. This process was a battle between the writers' original artistic vision and the director's need to adapt it for the screen, demonstrating the passion and conflict inherent in bringing such a powerful story to life.
The stark, brutalist aesthetic of the prison cells was a deliberate choice. Only two tiers of concrete cells were physically built in a Red Cross facility in Bilbao, with the illusion of hundreds more created through visual effects. This minimalist, 'impregnable' architecture was designed to convey the 'dehumanized coldness' of the system itself, making the setting feel as much a character as the inmates.
The food, too, plays a crucial role as a character. Presented on 'Versailles worthy tableware' at the start, it signifies 'excessive, almost erotic, opulent desire.' This lavish display starkly contrasts with its eventual desecration and depletion, highlighting the grotesque imbalance and the desperation it breeds as it descends to the starving prisoners below.
The film's brutal violence and cannibalism were not gratuitous but essential to its message. Gaztelu-Urrutia explains that the prison 'is a reflection of our society, [so] it couldn’t hide the violence. It had to show how we rip each other apart.' This unflinching portrayal aims to generate discussion and debate about uncomfortable truths.
Interestingly, actors Iván Massagué (Goreng) and Antonia San Juan (Imoguiri) were cast against type, both being known for comedic roles. This intentional choice aimed to inject 'humour, irony, and surrealism' into the weighty subject matter. Furthermore, Massagué underwent a dramatic physical transformation, losing 26 pounds over the six-week shoot to authentically portray his character's harrowing physical deterioration.
Global Impact
After its theatrical release in Spain in November 2019, The Platform surged in popularity with its international Netflix release in March 2020. Within its first four weeks, it was watched by an astonishing 56 million households, becoming one of Netflix's most-viewed original films and sparking widespread conversations globally.
Critics lauded the film, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it an 81% approval rating and praise for being 'an inventive and captivating dystopian thriller.' Many highlighted its unique blend of 'low comedy, political allegory, left-field twists, crowd-pleasing surprises, spectacular violence, sadism, altruism,' drawing comparisons to auteurs like Luis Buñuel and plays by Samuel Beckett.
Its release coincided uncannily with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This timing gave the film an unexpected new layer of relevance, with critics suggesting it was 'the perfect parable for life in the time of the coronavirus' — a visceral investigation into how a crisis exposes both societal stratification and the 'immutable strands of selfishness coded into our DNA.'
Accolades
The Platform garnered significant recognition for its bold vision and execution. It collected several prestigious awards and nominations.
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result 2020 7th Feroz Awards Best Drama Film Nominated Best Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia Nominated Best Screenplay David Desola, Pedro Rivero Nominated Best Supporting Actress Antonia San Juan Nominated Best Film Poster Nominated Best Trailer Nominated 2020 12th Gaudí Awards Best Non-Catalan Language Film Nominated Best Screenplay David Desola, Pedro Rivero Nominated Best Visual Effects Mario Campoy, Irene Río, Iñaki Madariaga Won 2020 75th CEC Medals Best New Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia Nominated 2020 34th Goya Awards Best Original Screenplay David Desola, Pedro Rivero Nominated Best New Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia Nominated Best Special Effects Mario Campoy, Iñaki Madariaga Won 2020 29th Actors and Actresses Union Awards Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role Antonia San Juan Nominated 2020 33rd European Film Awards Best Visual Effects Iñaki Madariaga Won
A Return to the Pit?
Given the film's immense success and provocative ending, discussions about a sequel began almost immediately. In May 2023, Netflix confirmed that filming for The Platform 2 had commenced, with Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia returning to direct. The sequel, featuring Hovik Keuchkerian and Milena Smit, promises to delve deeper into the mysteries and moral complexities of this vertical world, with a trailer released in July 2024 and the film debuting in October of that year.
Article
The Platform (film)
The Platform (Spanish: El hoyo, lit. 'The Hole') is a 2019 Spanish dystopian thriller film directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. The film is set in a large, industrial tower named the "Vertical Self-Management Center." Residents of the tower are imprisoned in the center as punishment for committing crimes. Every month, prisoners switch between the tower's many floors and are fed by a vertically moving platform with food on it. The platform is initially filled with lots of food, and gradually descends through the tower's levels, stopping for a fixed amount of time on each floor. Since the residents of each floor tend to eat as much food as they can, those on the lower floors are unable to eat as much food as those at the top, leading to conflict.
The film's cast includes Iván Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor, Emilio Buale Coka and Alexandra Masangkay. It premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where it won the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness. At TIFF, the film also secured a worldwide streaming deal with Netflix. It was released theatrically in Spain on 8 November 2019 by Festival Films. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
The Platform (film)
A man named Goreng awakens in a cell numbered 48. His cellmate Trimagasi explains that they are in a tower-style holding facility. Once per day, food arrives on "the platform" that lowers from level 0, stopping for two minutes on each level. Prisoners can only eat while the platform is stopped on their level, and are subjected to fatal temperatures if they keep any food. Prisoners are randomly reassigned to a new level each month. Trimagasi reveals that when assigned to level 132, he and his former cellmate cannibalized someone. One day, a woman named Miharu rides down the platform, whom Trimagasi explains regularly descends the pit to search for her child. Goreng explains that he volunteered to spend six months in the facility in exchange for a diploma, while Trimagasi confides that he is serving a year-long sentence for manslaughter.
The following month, they are reassigned to level 171. Trimagasi ties up Goreng and explains his plans to feed himself using Goreng's flesh. When he begins cutting into Goreng's leg, Miharu arrives, attacks Trimagasi, and frees Goreng, who kills Trimagasi. Encouraged by Miharu, Goreng eats Trimagasi's flesh and subsequently becomes haunted by hallucinations of Trimagasi.
The next month, Goreng wakes on level 33 with a woman named Imoguiri and her dog, Ramesses II. Imoguiri was the administration official who interviewed Goreng before sending him to the pit, having admitted herself after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Imoguiri only eats every other day, letting Ramesses II eat on the days that she does not, and tries unsuccessfully to convince the pair below them to ration their food. One day, Miharu arrives injured. Goreng and Imoguiri nurse her back to health. That night, Goreng breaks up a fight between Miharu and Imoguiri to then discover that Miharu has killed Ramesses II. After Miharu leaves, Goreng mentions her child to Imoguiri, who says there are no children in the pit and Miharu came alone. The following morning, Goreng wakes to find that they have been reassigned to level 202 and that Imoguiri has hanged herself. He consumes her flesh, plagued with hallucinations of his former cellmates.
The next month, Goreng is assigned to level 6. His new cellmate, Baharat, is a religious man who has been attempting to escape the pit for months. Estimating that there are 250 levels, Goreng convinces Baharat to ride the platform down with him and ration the food. They forbid anyone on the first fifty levels to receive any, arguing that they get to eat every day, and fend off those who defy them. Fellow prisoner Sr. Brambang advises them that civility is more effective than violence and convinces them to send a symbolic message to the administration by leaving a single panna cotta untouched.
As they descend further, they hand out portions to the prisoners, attacking those who refuse to cooperate. They encounter Miharu being attacked and try to save her, but she is killed and they are both left severely injured. Goreng and Baharat continue to descend, eventually stopping at level 333, where Goreng notices a child whom he deduces is Miharu's daughter. They get off the platform, letting it continue downward, and reluctantly feed the girl the panna cotta.
That night, Baharat shakes Goreng awake and tells him, "The girl is the message." Goreng awakens, revealing this encounter to have been a dream, and finds that the real Baharat has bled to death. Goreng and the girl ride the platform to the very bottom level. Goreng once again hallucinates Trimagasi, who encourages him to get off the platform. Goreng insists that he has to ride the platform back up to the top, as he is the bearer of the "message," but Trimagasi replies, "The message requires no bearer." Goreng gets off the platform and the two walk away, watching as the child ascends.
Cast
The Platform (film)
Cast and crew members at a press conference in October 2019.
• Iván Massagué as Goreng • Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi • Antonia San Juan as Imoguiri • Emilio Buale as Baharat • Alexandra Masangkay as Miharu • Zihara Llana as Mali (Miharu’s daughter) • Eric L. Goode as Sr. Brambang • Mario Pardo as Baharat's friend • Txubio Fernández de Jáuregui as Chef
Production
The Platform (film)
The film was produced by Basque Films alongside Mr. Miyagi Films and Plataforma la película AIE, with the participation of RTVE and ETB and support from ICAA, the Basque administration, and ICO. Shooting lasted for six weeks.
Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia says the film's key message is that "humanity will have to move towards the fair distribution of wealth", exploring the importance of individual initiative in driving political change. The screenplay is adapted from a theatre script by David Desola and Pedro Rivero, to which more action and physical elements were added to make it more suitable for a film. "Extensive" rewriting was required to convert the unproduced theater script into a screenplay. The director said it was a "torturous ordeal", as the writers defended their artistic vision and did not want some of the changes to be made.
The concrete prison cells were built for the production in a Red Cross facility in a port in Bilbao. The director asked for cells that looked "economical, robust, [and] impregnable", which emphasized a sense of architectural and engineering proportion. Only two tiers of concrete cells were built; the appearance of many tiers of cells extending above and below each cell (visible from the hole in the center of each cell) was added in post-production using visual effects. The director says the vertical tower of cells "represents the dehumanized coldness of the Vertical Self-Management Center".
The director states that the film's lavish "food was treated as another character in the story, one that is aesthetically antagonistic to the architecture of the prison." The luxurious displays of gourmet food were presented on "Versailles worthy tableware" to depict "excessive, almost erotic, opulent desire" that is eventually "desecrated" once the near-empty platform reaches the abject, starving inmates on the lower levels.
The director acknowledges the film can be difficult to watch, but he says the purpose of this approach is to generate discussion and debate by viewers about the political messages. When asked about the film's brutal violence and cannibalism, the director explained that the prison "is a reflection of our society, [so] it couldn’t hide the violence. It had to show how we rip each other apart."
The film uses two actors cast against type; Iván Massagué and Antonia San Juan, both of whom are known for their comedic roles. The pair were chosen to lighten the film's weighty subject by adding "humour, irony, and surrealism". The film was shot chronologically, as the main actor Iván had to lose 12 kg (26 lbs) over the six-week shoot in order to display his character's physical deterioration.
Release
The Platform (film)
The film was released in Spain on 8 November 2019 by Festival Films. The Platform was released onto Netflix internationally (including Spain) on 20 March 2020. In July 2020, Netflix revealed the film had been watched by 56 million households over its first four weeks of release, among the highest viewing figures ever for one of their original films.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "While it may feel muddled at times, The Platform is an inventive and captivating dystopian thriller." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".
Norman Wilner of Now correctly predicted that the film would win the People's Choice Award, giving it a five-N rating and writing that the film "has everything: low comedy, political allegory, left-field twists, crowd-pleasing surprises, spectacular violence, sadism, altruism, and yet more spectacular violence, all wrapped up in a high-concept horror film that moves the premise of Cube into a merciless vertical structure. It’s grotesque and compelling, like grindhouse Buñuel. And it never blinks."
Amy Nicholson of Variety wrote that "the film’s minimalist fury feels like the plays of Samuel Beckett. Massagué and Eguileor are up to being in a zesty Waiting for Godot. And Eguileor's nasty, delightful, occasionally tender performance feels like an audition to play a Bond villain, or perhaps the Spanish resurrection of Hannibal Lecter."
The film garnered new reviews after a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sam Jones in The Guardian suggested it was "the perfect parable for life in the time of the coronavirus and a visceral investigation of how a crisis can expose not only the stratification of human society but also the immutable strands of selfishness coded into our DNA."
Accolades
<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Award</th><th>Category</th><th>Nominee(s)</th><th>Result</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2020</td><td>7th Feroz Awards</td><td>Best Drama Film</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Best Director</td><td>Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Best Screenplay</td><td>David Desola, Pedro Rivero</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Best Supporting Actress</td><td>Antonia San Juan</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Best Film Poster</td><td></td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Best Trailer</td><td></td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>12th Gaudí Awards</td><td>Best Non-Catalan Language Film</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Best Screenplay</td><td>David Desola, Pedro Rivero</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Best Visual Effects</td><td>Mario Campoy, Irene Río, Iñaki Madariaga</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>75th CEC Medals</td><td>Best New Director</td><td>Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>34th Goya Awards</td><td>Best Original Screenplay</td><td>David Desola, Pedro Rivero</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Best New Director</td><td>Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Best Special Effects</td><td>Mario Campoy, Iñaki Madariaga</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>29th Actors and Actresses Union Awards</td><td>Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role</td><td>Antonia San Juan</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>33rd European Film Awards</td><td>Best Visual Effects</td><td>Iñaki Madariaga</td><td>Won</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
Prequel
The Platform (film)
Discussions around a potential sequel took place after the film's streaming success in 2020. In May 2023, Netflix reported the beginning of filming of The Platform 2, with Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia returning as director and starring Hovik Keuchkerian and Milena Smit. In July 2024, Netflix released the first trailer for the film and the movie was released on October 4, 2024.