Next Floor

Next Floor (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Strange but effective short about some grotesque people sitting around a table eating some rather grotesque things while some servants look on. As soon as the people eat a certain amount they, with the table, go falling to the next floor where they're fed even more until they fall through the floor yet again. That's pretty much everything that happens for 11-minutes and you'd think that it might get boring after a while but it actually never does. Instead this is an extremely well-made and rather intelligent film that contains some superb cinematography. The images on the screen are rather ugly as I'm sure most vegetarians will pass out before the movie is over with. What makes the images so effective is the great cinematography but also the terrific editing, which puts you right in the middle of the table and you'll really feel as if you're there looking at and smelling all this food. Director Villeneuve has created a rather unique little gem that is well worth watching as it's both funny and disturbing.

I just saw this great short at the Stockholm Film Festival. Kudos to the director and team for creating a spectacular little film.

I was so impressed with the tone and ambiance. It had a very special quality. It reminded me of the works of Jeunet, Greenaway and such. But that's OK - it was a very personal short film.

The production was equally great. The sets, costumes, styling etc was remarkable.

And the food was brilliant.

The cinematography was superb.

The style of comedy was excellent.

Bravo to you all!

I look forward to your next work.

Google it and you should be able to track this down on vimeo or youtube if you're interested in seeing what visionary director Denis Villeneuve made before the likes of 'Prisoners', 'Enemy', 'Sicario', 'Arrival and 'Blade Runner 2049'.

No expense has been spared as this short film clearly has one heck of a budget and it shows... the production design is incredible.

Any piece of art about topics which are dear to a majority of human beings is bound to arouse radical reactions from people.Eating of food especially gluttony is something which would be censured by most of us as it goes against the basic principles of humanity.Canadian director Denis Villeneuve's short film "Next Floor" depicts a binge eating session which reveals how gluttony brings out the animal character of human beings.It is a film which has the capacity to shock viewers to the extreme.What can disturb the viewers most is the manner in which the entire act of gluttony is filmed.It is often said that cooking of food is an art.However,this notion turns out be false as Denis Villeneuve shows that eating of food especially gourmet food is a more expensive art which can be afforded by only selected people in the world.In a world where a vast majority of people do not get a chance to properly eat their three meals on a daily basis,a film like "Next Floor" is a grim reminder of challenges which lay before leaders of the world to provide enough food to all the hungry people.

I actually found out about this short film through a review for The Platform, and how the concept was "stolen" from this short. I was intrigued to find it and check it out.

I honestly really enjoyed Next Floor, compared to The Platform, which honestly just upset and disturbed me rather than entertaining me and sending some important message.

I'm absolutely not bashing anyone who enjoyed The Platform, but I genuinely couldn't stomach it, and so having an alternative like Next Floor, which is a lot less disturbing and depressing, while being more comedic, was definitely for me.

Anyway, this film was really good and well produced, not to mention being a lot shorter than a full-length movie (although I feel like a full movie of this wouldn't be all that bad)