Julien Neaves – Editor
There is a phenomenon called the Mandela Effect where a bunch of people recall an event that never happened. It is named after late former South African president Nelson Mandela and the fact that many people recalled he died while he was in prison, which would have made it difficult to become president following his release. Well I had a mini-Mandela Effect last week when I recalled Redmangoreviews did a review of Spanish sci fi thriller The Platform. So imagine my shock and dismay when I tried to link another article to it and it was nowhere to be found. Cue The X-Files theme.
I was so blown away by this film that I had-to-bound-to-must review it, and I will do so now with the mildest of spoilers.
The Platform, directed by Galder Gaztelu Urrutia, is set in a future where prisoners are placed two by two in a vertical tower of cells and a platform of food is lowered from the top to bottom. Those near the top eat like kings while those below starve to death, if they live that long.
The film follows one inmate Goreng (Iván Massagué in a committed performance) as he struggles to survive physically, mentally and emotionally in a system that will inevitably lead to conflict and death. His roommate and unwilling guide is the knife-wielding Trimagasi (a chilling performance by Zorion Eguileor).
From the opening scene to the final fade out this film had me glued to the screen. There is a gnawing tension throughout that periodically rips away into bloody chunks of extreme horror and gore, though never descending into full-on horror territory. And the visceral brutality is not just gore-for-gore sake but in service of a thoughtful examination of human nature, the structure of society and the dichotomy of the haves and the have-nots.
The cinematography by Jon D. Domínguez is also stellar and the award-winning special effects and visual effects are stunning and dismally beautiful. All the actors deliver top-class performances and the plot is delightfully stuffed with twists and turns.
I have heard people complain about the ending but I thought it served the story well and it makes sense if you think it through, and this film will have you thinking about it days after viewing.
All in all The Platform is one of the best sci fi thrillers I have ever seen and it is ride you should not miss out on. Going down?
Score: 10 out of 10
For a Quick Bite review of horror film Fantasy Island you can click here.
Julien Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. Also loves promoting Caribbean film, creating board games and is an aspiring author. Says things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. Can also be found talking about TV and movie stuff on Instagram as redmanwriter and on Facebook at Movieville