User Reviews

I was watching a channel while on the computer and when I looked up I was instantly intrigued. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. Even though it was 11 min. I felt like you could get a feel for each of the characters and understand somewhat where they are coming from. I might be looking to far into it but I saw it as an interpretation of one of the 7 sins, "gluttony". Each characters personality reacted differently to the sin. For some it was a competition, for others even if they did not want to eat anymore they went with the flow because everyone else was. At the end when the table keeps falling I also got the feeling of another form of Dante's inferno and all of these characters had sinned by gluttony in their previous life and now must suffer this inferno for eternity. The devil could have been the guy in the close-up at the end who repeats next floor over and over. Overall a great short!! Cinematography and miss-en-scene A++!!!

I know I should not comment on other user comments, but there is one here that really hates this short film and lambasts it for being one joke and being about nothing. That person is of course entitled to his opinion whether I agree with him or not (I have my fair share of wrong 'uns on this site) but I think he really missed this whole film and it is a shame. The plot is that we join a dinner party where the guests eat feverishly in very posh and formal surroundings, with every type of meat and dish coming to them. As they eat the floor starts to creak and bow until it gives way and the whole party collapses to the next floor down. With only the slightest delay, the waiting staff and orchestra join them via the stairs and the meal continues. And continues. And continues.

From the director the recent feature Prisoners, this short film is actually a very effective and absurd vision of hell. It is "one-joke" perhaps but this is to ignore the fact that our understanding and perception of the situation changes as we go. The view of the food starts out as enticing (I would have gone for a sausage early doors) but as the film goes on, even to the viewer the excess of type and volume of food is too much. The "joke" of falling through the floor is a good device to show the neverending nature of this situation and I very much enjoyed how it went from comical to dark to outright disturbing. The manic and driven way they eat is part of it but the single tear and insane laughter of the woman is more effective and memorable. The story is simple perhaps as it is a vision of Hell for the sins of greed and gluttony but it is really well done and pretty creepy.

The direction and cinematography means the film looks great but the effects are also very well done, whether it be the collapse of the floor or just the attention to detail of the coating of dust to confirm the fall. The close-ups of the food mixes appealing and unappealing but never pushes it too much to be obvious – it lets the quantities and the relentless flow of it do the work. So, to my fellow user who hates this short film with a passion – I do not agree. This is a very well made film that has a simple idea at its core but makes it an engaging grotesque and absurd experience and, ultimately, gives you a haunting memory of this place as a very specific Hell – which is of course what it is.

This was simply a great short. The characters, costuming, and setting where so well done. Being almost completely without dialog, the acting was almost all facial expression and subtle looks. It seems in no way pretentious but rather simple in its elegance. It leaves you to try and figure out what was really going on. I decided it was hell for gluttons.

We are introduced to the maitre'd, very serious, ominous. Then we see the diners sitting around a table sitting in a simple, old room, all silently eating (silently save for the sound of the diners eating a constant stream of food.) The diner's looks are classic stereotypes of society. They eat and eat and in some glimpses we see a hint of a relationship here...or even doubt and sadness. One even gets the slight idea that they may not even be in complete control of whether they can stop eating.

The food that is brought seems disturbing, sometimes hard to identify, even down right bizarre. Then the floor gives way, the diners fall through, and the staff is called to go to the next floor and the chandelier moves down through the hole to light the table and diners that now sit one floor below. They begin eating again and food of all types (save anything that looks appetizing) are served.

At one point a woman puts her hand up to a waiter as if she wants no more. She seems concerned, as if she is beginning to realize what might be going on. She turns her head and she is served anyway by a waiter that seems to be shocked she turned down a serving. As if NOT being served was unthinkable....and not allowed. The woman looks at her plate and see's the food. She has a tear in her eye as she begins eating, manically laughing while shoving food in her face.

The table falls through again. They all go to a new floor. In the end...they fall through and never stop falling. We see the Headwaiter, he looks as if his mission is accomplished.

Well acted, well, shot, looks great. A bit of dark humor and bizarre imagery that suggests something off, sinister, or otherworldly. A stunning example of what can be achieved in a short film.

Back in March of 2010, the Hirshhorn Museum at the Smithsonian on The National Mall showed a short film on the basement level entitled "Next Floor," by Denis Villeneuve. Many other museums also showed the film, as well as other venues. Recently, "Next Floor" has become available for download on I-Tunes. This film is striking, profound, very well done, and teaches a weighty lesson about consumption.

Here is the premise of the film Next Floor according to the web site's synopsis:

"During an opulent and luxurious banquet, complete with cavalier servers and valets, eleven pampered guests participate in what appears to be a ritualistic gastronomic carnage. In this absurd and grotesque universe, an unexpected sequence of events undermines the endless symphony of abundance."

As this scene unfolds at this banqueting table of decadence and over-consumption, the bottom literally begins to drop out beneath those at the table. As they eat themselves into oblivion, they begin to fall from one floor to the floor below them until they are left falling with no end in sight, as if being sucked into a hellish black hole. Their dark demise is illuminated only as the chandelier falls behind them lighting each floor below until it disappears into nothingness as the film ends.

The viewer is left with their mouth hanging open in disbelief and conviction. The scripture from Philippians 3:19 begins to come to mind, "But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites." This short film Next Floor, and the picture that Paul paints in Philippians 3:19, is a frightening and realistic social commentary on our gluttonous and over extravagant culture of consumption and greed. We are, indeed, spoiled rotten.

In Galatians 5:15, Paul warns us that if we bite and ravish one another, in no time we will be annihilating each other. When our appetites get so insatiable that we do not care who we hurt or step on to get what we want, there is a huge problem. Selfishness and greed have no place in our lives as followers of Jesus. Our god is not our stomachs or our appetites.

The culture and the world around us seek selfish gain by taking from others, through selfishness, gluttony, and greed, but we are called to so much more than this. We are called to give selflessly and to think of others more highly than ourselves and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Material wealth, possessions, and the things of this life are not to be our gods and we are not to look to these to satisfy us or to fill us. Our consumption can consume us and our appetites can control us, if we let it, and if it is left unchecked. The film "Next Floor" paints this picture vividly for the viewer.

I highly recommend this film.

Bibliography

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Ga 5:15, Php 3:18-19

Preview of Next Floor from the Trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R6xXS_VqlA

"Next Floor" is a tidy little short I enjoyed. The story is simple and exists mostly to relay the theme. There isn't much to it, but it works for the film. It's peppered with enough existentialism to feel unique and abstract, but not so much as to become distracted by its premise. The real allure here is in the vile-looking food. This shines as an example of visual storytelling. It does more or less serve as one big attempt to demonstrate the strength of some set designer's work, and that's O.K. Almost all of the short centers around people gorging on food and collapsing through floors. I'm always impressed by a film which can tell its entire story with a few words. Is it repetitive? Yes. Are its insights on gluttony, greed, classism and a societal longing for distraction preachy and trite? Of course. What excuses the short, however, is that it's just that: a short. By the time gussied-up people creaking floorboards gets old, and by the time an audience member connects the dots and feels patronized, it's already over. It's a taut movie that isn't a waste of eleven minutes. You can find it on the Internet and understand it without knowing a word of French.

For some reason a reviewer here filled their post with quotes from an old mythological book called "The Bible" and I'm not entirely sure why as this short film has nothing to do with the (evidently fictional) dusty tome from 2000yrs ago. Of course maybe this was a reference to the subject matter of gluttony within, which again has nothing to do with "The Bible" as it's existed for 1000yrs of years before that was written by goat herders (who probably needed a good meal once in a while). Of course the world is full of obese people, and it's interesting that many of these are declared Christians, so obviously reading (and believing in) "The Bible" doesn't stop the "sin" of gluttony. Bit of a wasted point then.

Anyway, back to the movie, it's an excellent little short thats both funny and magnificently filmed which shows just what can be done with a meagre budget. I loved how they had the chandelier follow them through each level and the orchestra chase them down the stairs. It kinda reminded me of the fat man Monty Python sketch too. I highly recommending searching the Next Floor out if you can find it.

I dont really know if this short have a morality or a kind of message trough the people we can see at the banquet and how they eat like animals and fell floor after floor. Is it supposed to show these people in all their greediness and they seem to not be aware of their greediness and that they make the same mistake again and again: eat and fall. Is it supposed to show the human nature to show theyr greediness without them notice how they are so much greedy in daily life and repeat the same mistake? Im pretty curious to know more about the real intention of this short movie. Except that, i really enjoyed the particuliar atmosphere, the sound design of the foods, the music in the background, the lights who give this kind of atmosphere. It was a nice experience and i really glad to find the short of Denis Villeneuve: i didnt knew he made this one and im glad to had discover this.

This is a 12-minute (9 or 10 without credits) live action short film from 7 years ago and it is mostly known because it was directed by Canadian Denis Villeneuve. In the years after this movie here, one of his works was nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar and, more recently, he worked successful with Jake Gyllenhall on several films. This one here, however, is from long before that. We see a bunch of gross and disgusting men at a gigantic table filled with all kinds of delicacies. They keep eating and when they are too fat they fall down to the next floor. This is what the title refers to. They keep eating. They keep falling. And so on. But what is going to happen in the end? All in all, a fairly uninteresting repetitive short film I must say. I enjoyed some of the director's later works, but this one here does not impress me. Would have been fine at 5 minutes max as well. Not recommended.

No doubt an analogy of the cause and effect of how humans are having a detrimental effect on the health of our planet. Beautifully done.

First - I defy ANYONE to tell me what the message of this garbage is. Anyone? What is essentially one joke, it is stretched out for 10 minutes. There is NO pay-off. Instead, the same joke keeps repeating, and repeating, and repeating, and...

A eclectic group is assembled around a banquet table, taking part in what can only be described as a feasting on endangered, rare animals. The guests are never introduced. They're only identifiable by their outfits - which are supposed to be 'iconic' - representative of who they are. The only (actual) speaking part is that of the 'major d'uomo (?), a bald-headed man, who's got a nefarious , mysterious quality. His ONLY dialogue is repeatedly saying; 'next floor.' The lighting, the cinematography is good - not exceptional, and that's the nicest part of what is an ego-built short.

I'm not going to give the 'plot' away - there IS no anything. Just a repeated joke. It never comes to conclusion, and unlike movies that DO leave the viewer to ponder what they just saw, the only thing to ponder is; 'why were they given money to make this?'

This movie is what a first - time (read: young, inexperienced) director thinks is a powerful, 'message' movie. If you're either someone who's not seen many films, or your experiences in life are still low, then you'll find a movie like this 'interesting.'

Otherwise, do yourself a favor - change the channel. GO to the bathroom. Feed your pet. ANYTHING other than watch this drivel.