Movie Review: The Platform

By Sei Ogawa

This is the first full-length science fiction film by Spanish director Gardel Gaztelu-Urrutia who won the Best Picture Award at the Siches Catalonia International Film Festival in 2019. A man wakes up in an eerie room with a hole in the center and tries to escape from it. It stars Ivan Massague, (Millionaire Dog, Welcome to My House) and Antonia San Juan, (All About My Mother, Love Your Shoes).

Goren (Ivan Masage) woke up in a hole in the middle of the room. There are several similar rooms on the top and bottom, which are like towers. He learned from Trimagashi (Sorion Egileor) who was in the same room that they are on the 48 floor, but he doesn’t know how many floors there are.

According to Trimagashi, there are two people in each room on each floor, and they are randomly switched to some floor every month. Conversation with the upper and lower floors is strictly prohibited, and eating is the most important thing here.

A huge platform with a large amount of food descends in the middle of the structure from the top floor to the bottom floor. Although the food is luxurious, it is clearly leftovers as it had already passed though 47 levels. Goren looked at the greedy Trimagashi with a stunned face. Goren didn't touch anything and picked up an apple before the platform started moving.

Then the Gorens' room begins to get hotter. According to Trimagashi, stockpiling of meals is prohibited and punishment can be given if food is stored. Goren threw the apple away in a hurry and the room cooled down.

Trimagashi and Goren had a reason to come to this place. For Trimagashi, it was his last chance for freedom after committing a murder, and Goren was sent there after being promised to receive a certification for his studies. Both were allowed to bring in only one thing, Goren brought Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote,and Trimagashi brought a knife.

At first, Goren endured hunger. But he couldn't stand it, and eventually he began to eat just like Trimagashi. After that, a woman named Mihal (Alexandra Masankai) appeared on the platform looking for her child, and some people began to throw themselves out of their rooms because they were exhausted. Then the days go by, and the day comes when the hierarchy moves.

Goren awoke to find himself tied to the bed. In front of him was Trimagashi holding a knife. Apparently, they are on the 171st tier with a bunch of hungry people with very little left to eat. Trimagashi was about to eat Goren. When Trimagashi was about to cut Goren with a knife, Miharu, who came on the platform, stopped him. Goren then kills Trimagashi.

However, since there is no food there, they are suffering from extreme hunger. They overcome hunger and survive 171 levels by eating the Trimagashi. Then Goren woke up and found herself on the 33rd floor. Trimagashi is dead, where he meets his new partner, Imogiri (Antonia San Juan).

According to Imogiri, Imogiri is part of the management, so he seems to be familiar with the structure. Imogiri said, “There are up to 200 classes, but when it comes to eating properly, it should be distributed equally to all classes.” Imogiri appealed to other classes of people to share evenly, but they didn’t listen.

After sleeping, Goren woke up again to find himself on the 202nd floor. When Goren found Imogiri hanging, he was hungry and tried to eat a book, but he couldn't. So Goren gave in to his hunger and ate her. The next month, the rooms changed from the 202nd floor to the 6th floor. In place of Imogiri, he was now paired with Baharat (Emilio Buare). Bharat had brought in a rope, and he intended to use it to get to the top. If you want to know what happens in the future, you will have to tune in.