The Platform (2019)
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Cast
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Overview
About the Film
The Platform is a 2019 Spanish science fiction horror film directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. The film takes place in a vertical prison called "The Hole" consisting of hundreds of levels, each containing two inmates. Each day, a platform loaded with a lavish feast descends from Level 0 through every level — those at the top gorge themselves while those below receive progressively less, until the lower levels receive nothing at all.
Inmates are randomly reassigned to different levels each month, meaning everyone will eventually experience both abundance and starvation. The allegory was blunt but devastatingly effective — The Platform was a visceral, horrifying metaphor for capitalism, class inequality, and the human tendency to take more than one needs at the expense of those below. The film's violence and degradation escalated as the protagonist Goreng, played by Iván Massagué, descended to lower levels and experienced the madness, cannibalism, and despair that extreme deprivation produces.
The Platform became one of Netflix's most-watched non-English language films upon its release during the COVID-19 pandemic, when its themes of resource hoarding and social responsibility resonated with particular urgency.
