The Platform - Netflix's Spanish psychological thriller is a grim reflection of our society

Remember the scenes on the streets when India announced a nationwide lockdown in response to pandemic crisis. People rushed out to stock essentials fearing they may not be available later. And people bought more than they required resulting in stocks running out. This led to few people having more than they required and most having less or nothing. The optimal behaviour in such a situation would have been to stay calm and buy only what one needs. However, this works only if everyone in unison exhibits this same behaviour. Fear that some would opt to hoard leaving others stranded, leads to most people opting for a not so ideal solution to avoid regret. Changing the strategy from not hoarding and buying only what one need when they need, in absence of others following suit, will result in no additional gains.

As defined in Game Theory, this is the Nash Equilibrium – a solution of a non-cooperative game where no player has anything to gain by changing only his/her own strategy.

Game theory and Nash Equilibrium are also at the core of choices made by people locked in a facility in Netflix’s Spanish thriller – The Platform. Set in a large vertical tower like facility, 2 people live on each floor (with no one knowing the total number of floors) and are periodically switched at random between floors. A platform is lowered from the top most floor to bottom, which is filled with food for the residents. However, conflicts occur with people at the higher levels eating luxuriously leaving nothing for people at the lower levels. The optimal solution here, too, would be to ration the food at each level and eat. But most at the top opt to eat more than required. Sounds familiar with our society, doesn't it?

This psychological film, directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, released in 2019. It premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival where it won the ‘People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness’ and secured a deal with Netflix.

The concept, very eerily, reflects the inequality in our society. Resources are unequally distributed between different sections of the society with people at the top getting better opportunities than those at the bottom. However, in the movie, the administrators of the facility upset the real-world order by changing floors of residents, with those at bottom moving up and vice versa. Behaviour exhibited by different people in different scenarios is surprising at times and predictable otherwise, with only the fittest surviving.

The director, in one of the interviews I read, suggests that the movie attempts to critique both capitalism and socialist systems. The socialist system would dictate that food is equally distributed amongst all and this is ensured by the administration. Capitalism, in theory, would suggest that everyone is given a fair opportunity and free market forces would determine who gets how much food. The system prevalent in the movie neither ensures equal distribution of food or fair opportunity to everyone. There is an attempt made by a couple of inhabitants to ensure food is rationed and distributed fairly. But even that extorts a cost because not everyone agrees to this system. In the end, for any system to work, unity amongst most of them is required; which is difficult in reel and real life.

The performances of the cast are nothing noteworthy but gets the job done. It's a Spanish movie but is available in English audio and subtitles on Netflix. I opted for English subtitles with Spanish Audio. Hearing the voice of the original actors makes the emotions on screen more realistic and that's how I usually prefer watching foreign language movies.

It’s a fantastic exhibit of game theory and its application. But more than that, it is a grim reflection of the society we live in. Ironically, a movie makes the point better than the reality we live everyday.

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