Film Review

The Platform (2019) • Netflix

A vertical prison with one cell per level. Two people per cell. One only food platform and two minutes per day to feed from up to down. An endless nightmare trapped in The Hole.

by James Steep

At a time when some are hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer, Spanish horror The Platform couldn’t have arrived at a more apt moment. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s movie explores our relationship to greed with sinister honesty, resulting in a story that’s as dark as it is relevant. While by no means an easy watch, there’s an important message behind, particularly since Netflix picked it up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At its core, The Platform is science-fiction. Its claustrophobic and mysterious tone is comparable to The Cube (1997) and the political dialogue is an added juicy bonus. Both films assemble strangers in various painful circumstances, and The Platform earns its place on the shelf of any avid sci-fi fan’s collection for its drip-fed reveals and grander implications.