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Same concept but with a table of food: The Platform.
It has an overdub now (2020) too.
The only difference is the levels in the platform are a lottery and the "rich" have no way to retain direct control/power.
Still an absolutely brilliant movie though.
Sure, but I suspect it's like that for thematic reasons. That people move up and down the economic ladder due to factors beyond their control. And the characters must move up to show that they don't change their values just because their conditions improve.
Also a parallel to real life, poking fun that the people at the top of the tower think they're 'better' and disrespect those below them despite the placement being arbitrary (and likely a place they've been before or will likely be in the future, though that's more true in the movie as you've said).
I agree, the film works much better with the system of random placement and the themes go much deeper than simply "people at the top are egotistical ass holes". I feel like the point was more about finding humanity amongst a self perpetuating system of greed and gluttony.
Great movie