Synopsis
In 2019, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia directed The Platform, a Spanish dystopian thriller which serves as a sociological allegory. The film won the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival, gaining international recognition. It is available on Netflix and poses poignantly disturbing questions regarding class disparity, ethics of survival, and human instincts cloaked in a minimalist, surrealistic vertical prison setting.
The film follows the inmates of an unknown brutish institution, The Pit. It is a vertical prison with hundreds of floors, each divided into two-person cells. Two inmates are housed per level, and a platform with an overflowing buffet of gourmet meals is sent down daily from the top floor. However, the platform only stops for a few moments at each level, and inmates must grab as much food as they can while it remains there; by the time the platform reaches the lower floors, the majority of the food is typically demolished or missing. This leaves the prisoners confined to those levels to either perish, fight, or use desperate means like cannibalism.
The film centers on Goreng (Iván Massagué), a man who voluntarily enters the Pit for six months in exchange for a diploma. His solitary possessions include a copy of Don Quixote and idealism. After undergoing the ruthless experience, Goreng is assigned to level 48, where he meets his first cellmate, Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor) a harsh tempered and cynical man who has already spent time in the system. The system’s brutal hierarchy is explained by Trimagasi. Every month, inmates are randomly reassigned to a new level which means anyone, based on merit or behavior, is bottom to top.
Trimagasi explains that below a certain level, survival can mean making some terrible decisions. The sardonic recounting of his own account of starvation and violence sets a psychological contrast with Goreng’s idealism. While Trimagasi remarks irrational decision making should be avoided when dealing with cooperation, Goreng suggests rationing food or forming a cooperation. Their uneasy alliance becomes a violent power struggle when they are reassigned to Level 171, one of the lowest and most hopeless positions.After Miharu (Alexandra Masangkay) starts her descent each month to search for a missing child, she kills Trimagasi, freeing Goreng. The scene is set when Goreng appears in bed bound. Trimagasi plans to amputate and consume his flesh so he can survive as the platform remains empty for days. A sudden, yet striking shift occurs in Goreng’s journey through the Pit.
In time, Goreng gets paired with Imoguiri (Antonia San Juan), an ex-administrator of the facility, who made the conscious choice of stepping into the Pit. She operates under the assumption that the system can function if everyone only takes the portion intended for them. Imoguiri does her best to foster a sense of social obligation by addressing the floors above and below, asking them to take on the challenge of restricting their food consumption. The inactivity in hope proves disillusioning due to the overwhelming selfishness of others. In due time, her health deteriorates, leading to Goreng disillusioned.
As Goreng physically and morally descends, the film becomes more intensively allegorical. His internal conflict grows as he begins to hallucinate conversations with Trimagasi and Imoguiri. Eventually, he encounters Baharat (Emilio Buale), a powerful yet good man who seeks to climb to the top and speak to the administrators. Rather, Goreng persuades him to descend the platform, which rides vertically, to bring food and safety to the lower levels.
Their journey becomes a metaphorical crusade—sandwiching rebellion against the system’s apathy. The two resolve to send back the untouched panna cotta dessert as a protest message sealed by the bottom levels of the system. However, they run into astonishing Muru, Miharu’s daughter, who has been living in secrecy. Instead of sending the message, Goreng and Baharat decide to give her the panna cotta, hoping her presence will force the administrators to confront the failure of their system.
In the finale, I pray for remote areas of fantasy to be a safe haven for my dear ones, and slowly succed in transitioning from an eerie atmosphere to an obscured one. Wounded and hallucinating, Goreng watches the platform descend into darkness without him while telling a Trimagasi hallucination “the message doesn’t need a bearer.” It’s ambiguous until the very end, revealing the child depicted at the start climbing the platform in timelessness.
Cast and Crew
Iván Massagué as Goreng
Massagué gives the viewer an indesputably gripping performance as the victim who metaphorically parallels with loss of innocence and undergoes an internalized philosophical struggle. The film’s emotional potency rests upon the metamorphosis of the protagonist from an inquisitive idealist to a tortured survivor.
Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi
Eguileor has crafted a chillingly and darkly humorous rendition of the merciless and pragmatic Trimagasi. Systemic cruelty is cynically accepted through his character.
Antonia San Juan as Imoguiri
For San Juan, her compassion as a reformer comes with the underlying conviction. The belief in a humans working together tragically diverges with the vicious realities of the Pit.
Emilio Buale as Baharat
The story gains Buale’s performance as moral courage, adding in not only physical strength but one of the few characters willing to challenge the system and seek justice.
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
In his feature film directorial debut, Gaztelu-Urrutia creates a visually striking minimalistic horror, science fiction, and social commentary film that is dissected with precision.
Written by David Desola and Pedro Rivero
The screenplay is meticulously crafted with sparse but dense dialogue that contributes to the film’s suffocating tension and philosophical undertones.
Cinematography by Jon D. Dominguez
The vertical perspectives of a prison complex are highlighted by stark lighting, giving a hallmark feel of serenity, yet feeling unreal and suffocating.
Music by Arųnzazu Calleja
The score supports the suspenseful and hopeless moments of the film, amplifying the overall grim feel of the film.
IMDb Ratings
As of 2025, The Platform holds a rating of 7.0/10 on IMDb, based on hundreds of thousands of reviews. The film has cemented its status as a cult film amongst dystopian fans because of its bold storytelling, disturbing visuals, and philosophical undertones.
Critics universally agreed regarding the film’s originality and its allegorical richness. Some drew comparisons to Cube, Snowpiercer and even 1984, claiming it captures the despondency and brutality of the hierarchical system. On the other hand, some thought the level of violence and nihilism was to an overwhelming degree, some felt the message was too overt. Nonetheless, it is accepted that The Platform makes a statement about class, consumption, and social responsibility.
Conclusion
Portrayed in the depths of a dystopian society, The Platform forgoes idly standing by as it aggressively sheds light on the inequality shortcomings and the harshness of trying to enforce fairness, let alone balance, in an indifferent system.
Neither the notion of class nor ethics is central to the film’s world. Rather, it reveals the preposterous lengths to which people will go to abandon Falky’s moral compass when there’s no choice, all while trying to set a new benchmark for what cooperation can be found in cross-class interaction.
Crippling horror, as disturbing, bold, and superbly intellectually provocative as it is, The Platform demolishes existing categories of creativity, morphing into social commentary presented in tightly-wound metaphor, brute force, and unrelenting in its honesty. The film’s lasting impression is felt whether you approach it as a critique of capitalism, a meditative take on altruism, or even a backwards cautionary tale of a dystopian future.
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