Goreng (Ivan Massagué) has signed up for the platform program only to be finally be forced to quit smoking and have enough time to finally read Don Quixote - and suddenly he finds himself in a barren room together with Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), a possible psychopath who has been sent here for treatment. The room has a big hole in the floor and one in the ceiling, that allow one to look to countless rooms exactly like this one above as well as below, making this seem like a huge, bizarre vertical prison complex. Once a day, a platform comes down from the upper levels with food - which is just leftovers from what the upper levels have left, and after a few minutes the platform lowers itself to the lower levels, which means the lower the platform goes, the less leftovers will there be. Goreng and Trimagasi make an odd couple, but eventually they learn to live together ... until they're sent to a much lower level, where the platform has literally no food left. So Trimagasi ties Goreng to his bed with the intention to cut out pieces of flesh from his living body to feed them both - but he's stopped by Miharu (Alexandra Masangkay), a madwoman who has made it her habit to use the platform and travel from level to level, with usually lethal results. However, it's Goreng who actually kills Trimagasi, then feeds off his flesh, as there's literally no other food. Leter, Goreng is transferred to a different, higher level, and paired with Imoguiri (Antonia San Juan), a woman who's just crazy for her dog and who tries to call for social justice between levels, but her calls are unheeded and her dog is eventually killed and eaten by Miharu on her way through, and eventually she commits suicide after they've been sent to a very low level, and Goreng sees himself forced to feed on her. Goreng's next cellmate, on a much higher level, is Baharat (Emilio Buale), an idealistic young man trying to climb out on a rope he has brought, relying on the goodness on those on above level - but these hopes are soon squashed. Then he and Goreng decide to go down on the platform to force social justice on anyone, to send a signal to those in control - an idea that doesn't come without its complications ...

Despite its very barren sets, The Platform is a highly imaginative film that really defies categorization: It's prison movie, it's science fiction, it's horror, there are surreal touches, and there's a Kafka-esque approach to things, and it's all tied up in a story that makes total sense and no sense at all at the same time. And apart from its inventive narrative, a slick direction sees to it that things stay visually interesting throughout, and strong performances help bring the weirdness of the thing to life.

Well worth a watch for sure!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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