Movie Review – The Platform 2

It’s October, so it’s time for my annual attempt to watch a bunch of horror movies. Of course, this quickly turns to lamenting the fact that somehow even though the month has 31 days in it… the calendar moves far too quickly for me to watch as many as I would like (and yes, I realize I can watch horror movies during other parts of the year – but this is the horror month!).

A few years back I sat down and watched a very strange movie called The Platform. The concept is a vertical prison where food is lowered to the inmates down into the bowels of the earth. You only get to eat what you have requested and nothing more. However, humans being humans, most of the time the higher levels gorge themselves on whatever they like, leaving those below to starve.

It was this weird movie that really sits with you over the days after a viewing. Less jump scare horror and more “wow, this is fucked up” horror. I would have never guessed it would have garnered a sequel.

With The Platform 2, it is still the same situation as the last movie, save there appear to be a set of rules which allows the food to reach many of the lower levels (I believe they mention food making it all the way down to the 170s at one point). The big sticking point is that there is a not so secret police who ensure the rules are followed. And if you do anything against their edicts, they will come to ensure you do not make that mistake again.

With both movies, there is a social contract which is supposed to be followed. And if it is, then everyone can potentially get what they deserve. But in both movies we see that those in charge… whether they are the upper levels of society or the “police” enforcers abuse their powers almost immediately. The other side, whether it is those who are just doing what they can to survive or the true “barbarians” who believe that their own self freedom is the most important thing.

It is never really about the best thing for society. It is only what is best for them. Might makes right without any concern that they may be on a lower level during the next month(s) struggling to survive with limited or no food at all.

Instant gratification is all that matters.

What we truly end up taking away from this social experiment is that the only lesson which can be learned is that you cannot become indebted to either side. Neither have the answers to your questions and doubts. Both will take you down a path where you are no longer your true self or anything close to it.

Instead, you must find a way to work through your own traumas for only you can determine your freedom. Only you can determine when you’ve served your time.

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Again, these two movies are more about making you think than they are about giving you some simple scares. Their attempt to be a funhouse mirror version of our world makes it where you can see the parallels, even in the horrific mess the main characters find themselves.

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John McGuire is the writer of the sci-fi novel: The Echo Effect.

He is also the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Click here to join John’s mailing list and receive preview chapters of upcoming novels, behind the scenes looks at new comics, and free short stories.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Tales from Vigilante City, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

About John McGuire

Writer of comics and novels. In 2006 his first short story "The God That Failed" was published by Terminus Media in their debut comic Evolution Book 1. Since that time he has had stories published in Terminus Media's Evolution Book 2 and Evolution Special, Kenzer and Company's The Knights of the Dinner Table, and Four J Publishing's The Burner #3. Currently he is eagerly awaiting the digital publishing of his first creator-owned comic The Gilded Age #1 to be published online as well as his first novel The Dark That Follows later this year.
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