Sometimes a film comes along that just blows you away. It’s unexpected and exciting – you’ve never seen anything like it before and you can’t help but turn yourself into an unpaid walking billboard and show it to everyone you know. That’s how I am with The Platform.
Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s stunning Spanish sci-fi/horror/fantasy/thriller/whatever film is about a grimy futuristic prison consisting of a giant vertical shaft where the prisoners live stacked on top of each other and grotesquely dependent on one another.
It’s part cleverly conceived but nightmarish metaphor for wealth inequality, part claustrophobic drama, and part gory horror film that will shock you. The whole film is a series of surprising revelations and small, telling discoveries – not so much M. Night Shyamalan “This changes everything!” revel ations, but a series of small, painful twists that stab you in the head. It’s a fabulous experience, a breathless and at times terrifyingly suspenseful film that also has a winning sense of black comedy.
This makes me excited on the one hand, but also skeptical on the other. The Platform 2
The first teaser trailer for The Platform 2 has just come out and it’s a real blast – it’s just a barrage of shocking, powerful images – which suggests that the film has its own unique identity and is not just a reboot.
The sequel revolves around a new protagonist and a new situation, but returns to the same insane prison. Gaztelu-Urrutia is back in the director’s chair, and original writers David Desola and Pedro Rivero are also back, along with another Spanish writer, Egoitz Moreno. Here’s Netflix’s description:
As a mysterious leader asserts his rule on the platform, a new resident is drawn into the fight against this controversial method to combat the brutal feeding system. But when eating from the wrong plate becomes a death sentence, how far would you be willing to go to save your life?
The Platform 2 is scheduled to be released on Netflix on October 4th.
