The themes of entrapment and the fight for survival in a manufactured environment have become recurrent narrative tropes in 21st-century cinema. While Vincenzo Natali’s “Cube” (1997) put a sci-fi spin on the survival quest of a group of strangers, the Japanese action thriller “Battle Royale” and similar iterations (including the hit Netflix series “Squid Game”) found grim sociopolitical parallels to our contemporary dog-eat-dog world. The winsome young adult stories like “Hunger Games” and “Maze Runner” put a dystopian cloak to the survival game tales. Then there were also richly allegorical dystopian visions in movies like “The Snowpiercer” and “The Platform.” The latter of the two – from Spanish filmmaker Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia – felt like an assortment of familiar sociopolitical elements ensconced within this familiar narrative, but it offered unique twisty visual delights and an ever-deepening metaphor for social inequality.
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Moreover, “The Platform” accidentally became a movie reflecting the general mood of the COVID-19 pandemic, as psychological anxiety and financial insecurity pervaded everyone’s minds. The Platform tells the story of inmates in a vertical tower-like prison—two prisoners to each cell level—as a moving platform laden with abundant food at the topmost level descends slowly through the structure. The prisoners are not allowed to hoard food. At the end of each month, the set of inmates is assigned to a different level. Those at the topmost levels could find themselves in lower levels, where the moving platform might reach without food. So it’s not really possible to be friends with your cellmate because when condemned to the lower levels, you might be perceived as food.
“The Platform 2” (El hoyo 2, 2024) once again descends into this twisted world of The Pit and explores the perils of inflexible ideology and faith. But despite good performances, the ideas aren’t anchored within a strong story or an engaging screenplay. The result is a bland and unwelcome sequel that’s just feeding off the scraps from the original bleak feast. Now, let’s dive into the details of “The Platform 2” plot and its myriad (and increasingly heavy-handed) symbolism. Spoilers Ahead.
The Platform 2 (2024) Plot Summary:
A system of fair food distribution in the Pit
“The Platform” showcased the ‘every man for himself’ scenario, where the inmates can only rely on the single object they bring with them. Some, like our naive protagonist, Goreng (Ivan Massague) in the first film, brought a book to read, whereas the object that mattered in the Pit was a knife (courtesy of Goreng’s cellmate, Trimagasi). But “The Platform 2” (2024) imagines a time in the inhumane Pit when there was an effort to enforce the system of fairness. Did this perspective – strictly defined by dos and don’ts – emerge after Goreng sent a ‘message’ to The Administration? That question is answered by “The Platform 2” in due time.
For now, we are introduced to the rule that inmates can request and eat their favorite food during their stay in the Pit. There are ‘Loyalists’ who ensure the rule is followed. In fact, the rule becomes the law. The inmates who rebel against the law to gorge on any food they desire are called ‘Barbarians’ and are hunted down by the vicious ‘Anointed Ones.’ These factions and rules-turned-laws are explained within the film’s first twenty minutes to our central character, Perempuan (Milena Smit), and her hulking cellmate, Zamiatin (Hovik Keuchkerian).
What are the rules the Loyalists want the inmates to follow?
The two find themselves on level 24, definitely, the topmost level, considering there are 333 levels. When the platform reaches their level, Zamiatin is disappointed because the meat on the pizza has already been eaten. The Loyalists from level 23 report that the law-breakers are those from level 21. When Zamiatin decides to try a chicken wing, he is warned to maintain the law and not turn into a Barbarian. If one wants to try a different dish, the person can voluntarily swap with another person. Perempuan appeases Zamiatin, stops him from eating the chicken wing, and instead gives him one of her croquettes.
It’s strongly hinted Perempuan and Zamiatin have a dark past. Perempuan speaks of wanting to forget her grave mistake and her love for the croquettes made by her ex during the inmate interview. Zamiatin is in the Pit for trying to set fire to his parents’ house while they are asleep. Unsurprisingly, his object of choice in the Pit is a lighter, whereas Perempuan has brought charcoal with which she sketches on the walls, suggesting she is an artist. Later, there’s a commotion among the prisoners as they pass on the number 44. The Loyalists at level 23 explain the communication chain is cut from level 44, making it uncertain whether food is distributed fairly in the levels below.
Who are the Anointed Ones, and how do they protect the Law?
Another rule among the Loyalists is that if Barbarians disrupt the food distribution, four people from two levels above the ‘problematic level’ will descend to ensure the law is followed. So, Zamiatin is assured that he will get his pizza as the comrades from level 19 and 20 will root out the issue at level 21. A similar operation will also unfold on level 44. The following day, as the platform descends, the Barbarians at 21 couldn’t be pacified by the people of levels 19 and 20. So if the Loyalists at 22 and 23 also fail, it is up to Perempuan and Zamiatin to fight the Barbarians. Therefore, the duo are advised to break the bed frames and be ready with the makeshift weapons.
Chaos ensues as the fight they didn’t ask for reaches level 24. They subdue the Barbarian from level 21, and the guy from level 23, Robespierre, speaks of taking the guy to one of the Anointed Ones in a level below. The people who call themselves Loyalists and Anointed Ones feel like they are part of a zealous religious organization. The ideology and rules become dogmas, and to enforce them, they commit brutal and unrelenting violence. Robespierre speaks of a Master who laid down the foundations of the law that his disciples, The Anointed Ones, enforce. The Loyalists – the fervent followers – make sure the new inmates either follow the law or are outcasted and punished as Barbarians.
Will Zamiatin curb his temptation?
The story of the Master is similar to that of any self-sacrificing messiah. The Master condemned to a lowermost level is said to have cut flesh from his thigh and fed his Anointed Ones. This led to a message of solidarity and a rule for fair food distribution, which also strictly prohibited cannibalism. The following day, Zamiatin gets his pizza untouched by anyone. Robespierre is seen flushing some of the select food. He explains the food belongs to the people who died in the fight yesterday. But why waste a portion of food that could be distributed? Robespierre further explains that arbitrary distribution of the leftovers will only grant privilege to a few and maintain inequality.
So, every day, Zamiatin and Perempuan must discard the food of the comrades from the immediate levels above who died in the fight. Failure to do so will result in their punishment. With that said, Robespierre descends the platform with his Barbarian prisoner. For the rest of the month, Perempuan goes through their routines and follows the law of discarding the dead comrades’ food. However, on one occasion, Zamiatin is tempted to eat the forbidden food when Perempuan is not looking. On their final day at level 24, Zamiatin speaks of his past as someone interested in pure mathematics. When a mathematical problem shook his reality, Zamiatin abandoned math and his family and went to live with his parents.
What happens to Zamiatin at level 180?
Before the gas puts the inmates to sleep, the Loyalists inform them that the fair food distribution has reached level 175. Everyone at the levels below and above rejoices at the news. But, of course, bleakness awaits our inmate duo as they awake at level 180. While Zamiatin is dejected, Perempuan is hopeful. She believes in the system and assures Zamiatin that it’s getting better every month. But days pass, and the platform reaches level 180 daily without any scrap of food. One day, a severed head of an inmate falls through the hole. People rejoice that the Anointed Ones are fighting the Barbarians for the food to reach their levels.
But a few more days pass, with Loyalists only passing information about transgressors in the above levels. One piece of information piques Perempuan and Zamiatin’s interest. The inmates above speak of a fat man at level 24 last month who took the food of the fallen comrades. A delirious Zamiatin is afraid the Anointed Ones will punish him. Later, unable to withstand the stress, Zamiatin commits self-immolation and falls down the hole. The following month, Perempuan wakes up at level 51 with an unnamed new inmate (Natalia Tena). The nameless inmate’s left hand is cut off from the elbow. Believing it is the inmate’s first month in the Pit, Perempuan explains the laws and about the factions.
How does Perempuan’s quest for justice at level 54 challenge the laws of the Pit?
Things mostly go smoothly, but one day, when Perempuan hears of a Barbarian at level 54, she sets out to bring justice. She is warned that it would break the law since only comrades from levels 52 and 53 can confront the Barbarian at 54. When the platform descends, the one-handed inmate joins Perempuan in the violent quest. At level 52, they are again warned of breaking the communication chain. So, one guy from level 52 stays, asking the other to join the cellmates from level 51. Then, teaming up with the cellmates at level 53, the five inmates encounter the fierce Barbarian at level 54. He is armed with a sharp object and slices at anyone who gets close to him.
After a great struggle, Perempuan subdues the Barbarian as the platform moves to level 55. But she doesn’t kill or keep him prisoner until the Anointed Ones reach their level. The Barbarian begs Perempuan to spare his life and goes down using the platform. As the unnamed inmate explains, this will bring them trouble. The only surviving guy at level 55 is a young man with Down syndrome, who is briefly seen in “The Platform” when Goreng and Baharat descend the platform to distribute the food. Later, the unnamed inmate explains her suffering inside the Pit to Perempuan. She has actually been there for six months. In her first month, her cellmate, Kekasih, introduced her to the law.
Can they escape Dagin Babi’s campaign of terror?
Though the duo strictly followed the law and participated in pacifications, one day, they found a malnourished guy on the platform and gave him the food of a dead comrade. Therefore, the strictest of the Anointed Ones, Dagin Babi, punished them. Kekasih resisted the punishment and gouged at Dagin Babi’s eyes. With long hair and a cloth covering his gouged-out eyes, Dagin Babi looks like a messiah figure. He ordered to cut off the unnamed inmate’s limb (by stretching it when the empty platform speedily moves through the hole from below). Then, he tied a naked Kekasih to the platform, and at the lowermost levels, she was eaten alive. She fears the same will happen to them when Dagin Babi reaches level 55.
The unnamed inmate believes escape is the only solution to the pit. She says they will have a chance to escape during the interval, i.e., when they use a gas at the end of each month to put the inmates to sleep and reset the Pit. She says the gas the Administration uses is a variant of sevoflurane. But a material can stop them from going fully unconscious. The unnamed inmate says she searches for material every month, which is why she wanted to descend the platform instead of staying at level 55.
What punishment is meted out to Perempuan?
Dagin Babi and his Anointed Ones clear a ‘blockage’ at level 46 the following day. They tie the dissident to the platform and cut him up. At level 55, Dagin Babi presents himself before Perempuan and the unnamed inmate, accompanied by a few other armed disciples. Dagin Babi first punishes the inmates for not following the ‘Rule of the Next Four.’ When one inmate says having more than four was advantageous in encountering the vicious Barbarian, Dagin Babi shouts, “One does not interpret the law. One obeys it!” He also recites a few other nonsensical dogmas, including, “We kill to build a future where no one will kill anyone.”
The unnamed inmate is condemned to the same fate as her former cellmate, Kekasih. Perempuan will lose an arm as the punishment for interpreting the law. The following month, a disillusioned Perempuan wakes up at level 72. Her new inmate is none other than the wily Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor) from the previous film. Now, it’s clear that the events of “The Platform 2” are unfolding before the events of “The Platform” (since spoiler alert: Trimagasi is dead by the halfway point of “The Platform.”)
Perempuan’s rebellion against the tyranny of Dagin Babi?
Perempuan has fully transformed from being a believer of the Law to a strict non-believer and perhaps even a dissident, aka Barbarian. It seems Trimagasi learned the wisdom of not speaking to the people from levels above and below from Perempuan. Regarding the material that keeps an inmate conscious at the interval, the unnamed inmate speaks of finding a ‘drowning dog.’ So, Perempuan decides to escape by going down to find the material, and if the Loyalists come after her, she will form her own group to fight them. As Trimagasi and Perempuan descend on the platform, they recruit people who stand against the tyranny of the Anointed Ones.
Soon, the people following Perempuan believe having whatever they desire is freedom. During their descent, we briefly see Baharat (with his rope). Upon reaching a particular level and looking at a canvas with a painting of a drowning dog, Perempuan asks her fellow fighters to stay at that level. The material in the painting will act as a filter, which won’t knock Perempuan unconscious during the interval. So she decides to wait till the end of the month at the level. The other fighters rejoice and have a good time. Soon, the Loyalists and the Anointed Ones bring the fight to the Barbarians.
How does Perempuan’s tragic past influence her actions and choices in The Pit?
As usual, Dagin Babi takes extreme measures to ensure the Barbarians are starved. His people flush the food down the toilet, and the platform reaches their level without food. When the Barbarians question Dagin Babi if he is ready to sacrifice his own people in the levels below by starving them out, the ruthless law enforcer says he is prepared to pay that price since defending the law is more important. The Anointed One and Loyalists will wait a few days after starving the Barbarians and then descend below to kill all of the dissenters. Dagin Babi promises lesser punishment for those who just participated out of fear, and so few in Perempuan’s group take the platform to go below.
At this point, Trimagasi suggests a twisted idea: “What if we go down and eat his people?” So they all go below and resort to cannibalism. However, Perempuan starves herself and waits for the month’s end. While Perempuan is delirious, we learn about the past that brought her to the Pit. Perempuan is a sculpting artist who participated in the exhibition with a series of sculptures showcasing animal cruelty. Perempuan’s boyfriend visited the exhibition with his little son. One of Perempuan’s sculptures was of a beastly dog with sharp claws. Though Perempuan was warned to establish a safety perimeter before exhibiting it, she didn’t follow the safety standards. Hence, her ex-boyfriend’s son fell atop of the claws and died.
The Platform 2 (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Will Perempuan escape the Pit?
After the incident, Perempuan got away without much punishment, and her sculptures featuring animal cruelty were sold for millions. But she couldn’t free herself from the profound guilt. Now, Perempuan hopes to escape this hell by consuming material that shows a dying animal. After a few days, Dagin Babi’s men descend to the level where the Barbarians are staying. In the bloody conflict, everyone dies except for Perempuan and Trimagasi. Before his death, Dagin Baby curses her for condemning them all. Later, Perempuan prepares herself for the interval and consumes the material.
Unlike before, she wakes up and finds herself tied to the platform alongside corpses. The entire Pit (or prison) is suspended in anti-gravity, and the guards descend to collect the bodies at each lowest level. Perempuan’s idea is to reach the topmost level, i.e., level 0, and then improvise and find an escape route. But at the lowermost level, i.e., level 333, Perempuan sees the guards placing a boy in the bed.
What does the post-credit scene of “The Platform 2” reveal?
Therefore, instead of escaping, she decides to save the boy. The next time the platform reaches level 333, Perempuan takes the boy (still in sedation) and descends to the bottom of the pit. Bouncing around the anti-gravity space has already caused an injury to her head, so when she reaches the bottom, a group of people reach the platform and ask Perempuan to disembark. One person says, “Your journey is over, but he will have another chance.”
Subsequently, a dying Perempuan stays at the bottom of the pit as the rapidly ascending platform takes the boy. Then, in the post-credit scene, we see many other similar savior figures who reach the bottom of the pit with a child. Eventually, we see Goreng – The Platform’s protagonist – who has saved the alleged kid of Miharu. When Goreng disembarks from the platform, he is greeted by Trimagasi (as seen in that film) and then Perempuan. It’s hinted that Goreng is Perempuan’s ex-boyfriend.
Who are the kids, and why are they confined to a pyramid-like structure?
In “The Platform,” we initially hear that no kids are in the Pit, although a determined mother, Miharu, searches for her kid. “The Platform 2” keeps cutting to sequences in which many children (all dressed like the inmates in the Pit) play around a stone pyramid-like structure with a slide and steps. At one point, chaos ensues when the kids storm the steps and try to reach the slide. A curly-haired black boy reaches the top of the pyramid and is taken away by a woman we know as Miharu in “The Platform.” Later, we see this same boy being placed at level 333. Among the children, we also see the kid Goreng eventually saves in “The Platform.”
There’s no clear answer to who these kids are or what kind of social experiment the Administration conducts upon them. But it’s indicated that the Administration deliberately places a kid in one of the lowermost levels. Goreng was not the first person to descend to the bottom of the pit to believe that “The child is the message.” There are many, as we can see in the post-credits scene.
Is it the afterlife or a dystopian reality?
Towards the end, Trimagasi says, “We’re all prisoners of ourselves.” So, if we interpret the Pit as climbing down the various levels of purgatory, then freeing oneself from their internal prison leads to an afterlife. Perempuan says she is in the Pit to take the time to forgive herself. Perhaps ‘saving’ the curly-haired boy has pushed her to forgive herself and embrace the afterlife. At the bottom of the pit, we also see dead inmates like Trimagasi, Zamiatin, and the unnamed one-handed inmate, adding to the possibility that this is the afterlife.
However, even if we don’t interpret this as an afterlife but just as a space where the pit survivors die a slow death at the bottom (imagining the dead people in their delirious state), the messaging looks a bit more cynical. The children could be planted in the Pit to offer the most rebellious inmates some purpose (or a possibility of salvation) before the inevitable. The children in the stone pyramid hall, too, are all victims of a system where the one who reaches the top of the pyramid is plucked to be placed at the bottom of a different structure. This says power structures won’t keep rewarding you for climbing to the top, and it will definitely not hesitate to stomp you when you are at the bottom.
Final Thoughts:
“The Platform 2” (2024) relies more heavily on religious symbols than its predecessor. In the previous movie, too, the Pit was interpreted as various levels of purgatory; the people reached the bottom and were condemned to a dismal afterlife. However, the sociopolitical metaphors were more solid in “The Platform,” and the religious aspect added to its richness. “The Platform 2 ” focuses more on commentary on dogmatic religious entities and interpretations of Hell and Purgatory.
The film starts with a fascinating idea of how a well-intentioned ideology itself turns tyrannical and instigates inhumane acts. However, the organic rivalries and psychological tension in the first film are nowhere to be found in this prequel. The script in “The Platform 2” just tries to keep building extreme scenarios to mount a few drawn-out metaphors. Overall, “The Platform 2” (2024) is just another one of those below-average sequels trying to squeeze the most out of a once intriguing idea.
Also Read: The Platform 2 (El hoyo 2, 2024) ‘Netflix’ Movie Review: Dilutes the Potency of its Premise by Losing Itself on Mythology and Ham-Fisted Symbolism.
The Platform 2 (2024) Movie Trailer
The Platform 2 (El Hoyo 2, 2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Cast: Milena Smit, Hovik Keuchkerian, Natalia Tena, and Oscar Jaenada.
