Recent years have seen the rise of the mid-budget sci-fi film; human level stories that forego lightsabers and outrageously expensive special effects and utilise their sci-fi aspects to enhance rather than detract from the relatable narratives at their centre. Films like Arrival, Ex-Machina, and Annihilation that leave you thinking about your own experiences and society long after you leave the theatre. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s debut film The Platform (or El hoyo as it is known in his native Spanish) falls into this category; presenting a powerful social commentary about classism and the perpetual struggle between the rich and the poor told against the backdrop of a vertical prison where food is delivered from top floor to bottom, forcing its inhabitants to adapt to survive. While it does take a while to get going and is far too heavy-handed with its message, a stellar performance from Ivan Massagué and terrific production design keep it chugging along until its bloody conclusion.
We follow Goreng (Massagué), the latest arrival in “The Hole”, a futuristic vertical prison reaching down hundreds of levels into the earth where prisoners change levels at random every month. Waking up on floor 48 of the prison he meets his new floor-mate Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), a disgruntled old man months into his sentence and with little patience for Goreng and his endless questions about his surroundings. These questions are interrupted by the arrival of the platform, a levitating concrete slab filled to the brim with all sorts of fine food and drink, which fills the hole in the centre of each floor once a day to provide the inmates with sustenance. Attempt to keep anything to stave off the hunger later and the temperature on the floor rises to boiling point or drops to freezing. After befriending fellow inmate Imoguiri (Antonia San Juan), Goreng finds himself drawn into her crusade to create equality within the Hole and ensure each prisoner receives their ration of food, riding the platform deeper and deeper and encountering savagery beyond his wildest nightmares.
The premise of The Platform is an extremely clever one, offering some intriguing possibilities for action scenes and story beats. Sadly, the film never really embraces this premise fully, thinking it is much deeper than it is, content to beat the audience over the head with its extremely obvious metaphor for classism. The long monologues from Trimagasi grow more and more tiresome as he rehashes this metaphor, and I found myself checking my watch mid-way through waiting for some action. There’s also a recurring narrative of Goreng being some kind of Christ-like figure with multiple people believing he will bring equality to the Hole. This makes sense to us as a viewer because we’re aware Goreng is our protagonist but in the world of the filmhow do these people know anything about him, let alone enough to speculate he is their saviour? Fortunately, once the action kicks in it kicks in hard, moving at a break-neck pace while necks are broken. The Platform is an extremely violent and gory film, just like the struggle of classism, and nothing is held back as inmates become more desperate and violent, where cannibalism and cracking skulls are commonplace.
Mirroring the film’s pace is the character of Goreng; arriving in the Hole a quiet, measured man who believes he can use the opportunity to better himself and catch up on some reading. His character is tested on all fronts – physically, psychologically and morally – and Massagué gives an incredibly nuanced and emotionally charged performance as we literally watch this man break apart in front of our eyes and have his world views shattered. This is where the real representation of classism lies as we see the struggle of Goreng cycling through both the rich and poor mindsets; hoping for more as he struggles to survive in the lower levels only to have that hope ripped away when his time higher up ends. Whilst relatively unknown to audiences outside of Spain, Massagué’s excellent performance should put him on the map on an international scale as he delivers one of the best performances so far this year. Accompanying him in the Hole is Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi, who gives a wonderful, layered performance as a frail yet violent man who opens Goreng’s mind to the harsh reality of the prison and social inequality in general. His extremely negative outlook on life casts a shadow of doubt over Goreng and Eguileor’s menacing presence is felt throughout the entire film even when he is not on-screen.
Whilst it isn’t the next sci-fi masterpiece many were expecting, The Platform is a promising start for director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, who comes to the party with an extremely clever idea but falls just short of making it all come together. The over-explanation of the metaphor of the prison and the lack of connective tissue between plot points sadly robs the film of much of its life and causes it to drag in the middle. Whilst the action that follows keeps you going to the bloody conclusion, it isn’t particularly well shot or choreographed and relies on gore and violence to extend the metaphor about the violence of classism rather than entertain the viewer. What holds it all together is some wonderful performances across the board, particularly Ivan Massagué who excels as Goreng. If you’re looking for a violent, dystopian sci-fi film that will also make you think a little, then give The Platform a go; just don’t expect anything as deep as the prison itself.
The Platform stars Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale & Alexandra Masangkay – streaming on Netflix now.