Warning: Major spoilers for Netflix’s The Platform 2 below!The Platform 2’sending again revolves around rescuing a child, but what is the purpose of these imprisoned children within the franchise?The Platformwas a major success for Netflix in 2019, where Iván Massagué’s Goreng tries to survive his time within a “Vertical Self-Management Center,” a fancy term for a surreal prison where food is distributed via the title platform. The movie wasn’t subtle about its commentary on class or the distribution of wealth within society, and the film itself is one big metaphor.
The Platform’sendingoffered a glimmer of hope when Goreng decides to send a message to the prison’s cruel, unseen administration by saving a life. His fate was deliberately left ambiguous, anda new cast of characters frontsThe Platform 2. The sequel still doesn’t reveal who built the tower or why, but it does open up the lore of the prison slightly.The film is also a stealth prequel, taking place around a yearbeforethe events of the originalinstallment.
The Platform 2 Wisely Never Answers The Biggest Question You Have About The Franchise
The Platform 2 expands on the premise of the 2019 original, but it smartly leaves the biggest mystery about the Netflix franchise intact.
Why Goreng & Perempuan Both Find & Save Children In The Platform Movies
Both Platform movies see their heroes trying to redeem themselves
The Platform 2’sendingsees the sequel’s heroine Perempuan (Milena Smit) devising an escape from the Vertical Self-Management Center. She fakes her death so the prison’s cleaners will take her out of the main complex, but in doing so, she spots a young boy being placed on the lowest level, Floor 333. Rather than save herself,Perempuan decides to save the boy and in a scene that mirrors the original’s finale, they descend to the black void underneath the prison.
Both Platform films imply that their heroes not only redeem themselves by saving a child, but they essentially reclaim their own innocence in the process.
Other damned prisoners then escort the badly wounded Perempuan away, assuring her that while her journey is done, the boy will get “another chance” as he ascends back up on the platform.The same thing happened with Goreng inThe Platform, where he rescued a girl from Floor 333but decided not to return with her. Both films imply that their heroes not only redeem themselves by saving a child, but they essentially reclaim their own innocence in the process.
Why The Children Are Put At The Bottom Of The Prison & Play On Slides
What does The Administration want with the children in The Platform 2?
The Platform 2keeps some elements intentionally vague, including a subplot involving a group of children playing around a stone pyramid. Occasionally, the sequel will cut away to these scenes with no real context for what they mean or even when they’re happening. However, the presence of Alexandra Masangkay’s Miharu - who in the first film was shown trying to save her daughter from The Pit - and how she escorts the boy Perempuan later rescues from the pyramid suggests a large scheme is at play.
The Vertical Self-Management Center appears to be a twisted social experiment on behalf of whoever runs the tower.The rulers test the morals and principles of the residents, both with the distribution of food and their response to being deprived of itfor weeks on end. They also place children on the bottom level, apparently so those prisoners seeking redemption will attempt to save them.
Playtime for the children inThe Platform 2feels like another metaphor within the story, where childhood fun is replaced by a race to the top of the pyramid. The fact the “winner” is then dropped off on Floor 333 feels significant, where the child’s reward for “winning” is then to be placed at the very bottom rung of the ladder again.
Are The Children Actually Real In The Platform? Their Meaning & Purpose Explained
Does The Platform’s final level even exist?
The final moments ofThe Platformget surreal, when the badly wounded Goreng discovers a child who supposedly shouldn’t exist, and they descend into a dark void together. Speaking withDigital Spyin 2019, director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia stated he left these final moments up to viewers to decide, but his own reading is quite dark.
To me, that lowest level doesn’t exist. Goreng is dead before he arrives, and that’s just his interpretation of what he felt he had to do.
BothThe Platform 2and the original strongly imply the final moments are within the character’s heads. Goreng was badly beaten before reaching Floor 333, while Perempuan suffers a severe head injury when she discovers the boy. The films offer two readings; everything is real and the main characters end up saving two innocent souls, or they’re already dead and their “descent” into the void is their dying thoughts.
Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia also revealedThe Platformshot an alternate ending where the girl arrived on the first level, but this was cut so audiences could debate the movie’s meaning.
The latter reading is reinforced by the way they see dead characters within the void itself. Both films are driven by metaphor and subtext, with the children representing purity and innocence. The protagonists are lacking in both, soby sacrificing themselves to save the children, they save their own souls. At least, that’s one way to read their purpose withinThe Platformseries, but ultimately, it’s up to the individual viewer to decide whether they even exist.
The Platform 2
Cast
The Platform 2 is the follow-up to the original dystopian thriller set in a vertical prison. This installment explores new layers of its brutal regime, delving deeper into its social hierarchy and survival dynamics. Directed by an unknown filmmaker, the sequel continues to challenge its characters' moral boundaries.
