The Platform (2019)

March 25, 2020 11:32 AM

A mysterious place, an indescribable prison, a deep hole. Two inmates living on each level. An unknown number of levels. A descending platform containing food for all of them. An inhuman fight for survival, but also an opportunity for solidarity.
posted by ruben (13 comments total)

The Platform is streaming in the US via Netflix.
posted by Etrigan at 12:18 PM on March 25, 2020

Also on Canadian Netflix.
posted by Mogur at 1:45 PM on March 25, 2020

This was... timely.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 11:18 PM on March 25, 2020

I had a nightmare about this movie. Not even from watching it, just from reading a synopsis of this.
posted by gryftir at 1:45 AM on March 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

Watched the trailer that is provided by Netflix and noped the hecked out.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 8:35 AM on March 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

The premise was intriguing but the ending was such a letdown. Really tired of movies with such cop-out endings -- simply cutting to black before we find out what happens isn't the same thing as leaving things open to interpretation. It's not artistic, it's just a cliffhanger that never resolves.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:19 PM on March 26, 2020 [4 favorites]

So, this was Cube plus Snowpiercer, basically? And yeah, the ending was a total cop-out.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 11:04 AM on March 28, 2020

When another website posted the trailer I made the joke that this was the offspring of Cube and High Rise and I turned out to be pretty accurate. I greatly enjoy movies about putting people in a ridiculously improbable situation and then seeing how they react (see also Circle).

I get the idea that the ending was a cop out, but unfortunately the more realistic ending (the message is delivered, but the people who receive it are not receptive and everything continues as before) is a bummer. By making the ending more about the fact that Goreng tried to be the solidarity messiah, rather than whether he succeeded (he did not), ends the movie more positively.
posted by ejs at 8:33 PM on March 29, 2020 [2 favorites]

I just recently watched Cube for the first time, it was fine but I'd not watch it a 2nd time. I'm hesitant to watch this movie because I am squeamish about cruelty. The same way I don't want to watch women being brutalized, I wouldn't want to watch prisoners (another exploited class) being brutalized, because they are already tortured enough in real life. Is this movie worth it? Or subversive in any way?
posted by FirstMateKate at 5:37 PM on April 1, 2020

My memories of Cube are hazy, though I refreshed them with a peek at Wikipedia, but I'd say you're safe to skip The Platform.
posted by XMLicious at 5:43 PM on April 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

I don't buy into the lack of resolution. There's pretty heavy handed Christian symbolism. The descent into the pit. We can infer there are 666 people in this hell from the 333 levels. It ties the number of the beast to Sartre's hell. By choosing to face this hell by descending and sacrificing the protagonist chooses and achieves his own path to redemption.
posted by biffa at 3:35 PM on April 12, 2020

This was not in any way subtle, but I liked it a lot.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:54 AM on July 2, 2020

This reminded me of the short film Next Floor by Denis Villaneuve (Dune, The Arrival, Blade Runner 2049).
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:00 PM on September 10, 2020