The Platform - A Film About Social Inequality and Human Nature

They are above you, they won't listen to you. They are below you, don't talk to them.

(Spoiler Alert)

I try to limit my Netflix into only one movie per day. Not only because I don't want to binge-watch, I just want to let a good movie linger in my mind for a few hours or days. This one particular movie left me thinking lately because it is so damn relatable. I mean if you watch it you might think, oh this is just another twisted Spanish film on Netflix. Maybe most people fail to see the deep meaning of this film. It is so timely I can't help but share my thoughts on this.

The film is about a vertical prison cell with two people at each level. The platform moves from top to bottom with all their favorite food on it. Prisoners only had two minutes to eat. The bottom prisoners didn't get to eat as the food got savagely devoured at each level. Each month prisoners got on random levels. You are unlucky if you are stuck at the lowest level. Most people died or got eaten.

There is one mysterious girl who gets to ride the platform from top to bottom every month. She was always bloodied and emotionless looking like she slaughtered other prisoners. I learned later that the only way for you to get to the top level is to kill and eat others. But there's a reason she rides the platform, and that is to take care of a little girl stuck at the lowest level. How she got there is unclear. This little girl didn't get to change her level because she has never killed or eaten her cellmate.

You've got a good heart. I don't think you'll survive long.

The protagonists tried to create an alternative system by rationing or limiting prisoners' food intake at each level. However, repeated pleas, violence, and intimidation all didn't work. It just shows here that when you are hungry, you are not You.

This is a Spanish film so don't expect a happy and cheesy Holywood ending. Prepare to feel disappointed or unsatisfied. Prepare to think deeply. At the end of the film, it makes you want to talk to the characters and ask WHY. But I think this film is all about making your own interpretation.

I realized, it is not really all about the system that needs to change here. The prisoners at the bottom level didn't have to kill and eat each other. There is actually enough food for everybody on all floors because the administration puts every prisoner's food on the platform. If only prisoners at each level only take their favorite food (as requested before entering the prison), but instead, they took more than what they needed. This part of the film reminds me of individualist societies and all those people out there who horde toilet paper rolls.

The hunger unleashes the madman in us.

Look nowadays, which countries are able to "flatten the curve" during this pandemic? Most are collective societies or people who are used to community values. It just makes sense. This is also one of the reasons why here on the island, where I am living, hoarding is unheard of. My neighbors give me meals, vegetables even sanitizer. I don't even ask them for it. See, this works. This is how decent humans should be in times of crisis.

I can't shit upwards.

The mysterious girl reminds me of someone who gets to exploit the system. In our Darwinian society, most people get to the top at the expense of others. This film also reminds me of another one of my favorite quotes - behind every great wealth, lies a great crime. Eventually, the mysterious girl got killed by the other prisoners. At the end of the film, the protagonist found the little girl at the bottom and transported her to the top through the moving platform. It only shows that despite most humans being greedy, there are still a few ones out there who are kind and will sacrifice themselves to save those who are helpless.

"This is the society we live in" kind of philosophical movie which is pretty interesting. It is kind of a wake up call for us to be aware of what humans are capable of when their survival instinct kicks in. This film tells us, don't act like animals in times of crisis. Have some decency fellow human beings.