Pedro Rivero

Pedro Rivero, born in 1969 in Bilbao, straight up brings a wild imagination to Spanish cinema. His work isn’t exactly the kind you forget after the credits roll. The guy’s got his fingerprints all over some seriously trippy, dark, and thought-provoking films—like “El Hoyo” (2019), better known to the English-speaking crowd as “The Platform.” That one? It’s a brutal, claustrophobic ride through a vertical prison where food trickles down from the top floor to the bottom, and, honestly, the social commentary hits harder than a sledgehammer. People scramble for scraps, alliances are sketchy at best, and the whole thing spirals into a gnarly look at human desperation and greed. If you like to have your brain twisted and your faith in humanity tested, this is your jam. But Rivero doesn’t stop there. He co-created “Psiconautas, los niños olvidados” (2015), an animated flick that’s got nothing to do with your average Saturday morning cartoons. It’s bleak, surreal, and, let’s be real, more than a little haunting. The story chases a group of lost kids through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, dealing with trauma, addiction, and a whole lot of pain, all wrapped up in gorgeous, nightmarish animation. Oh, and let’s not gloss over “Birdboy” (2011), another animated tale set in a broken world, where hope’s about as rare as a happy ending in a Rivero film. The dude’s got a knack for blending the bizarre with the brutally honest, and if you’re looking for movies that actually make you feel something—maybe even squirm a little—he’s your guy.