The 2024 Spanish dystopian sci-fi The Platform 2 maintains the tradition of leaving viewers with unresolved questions, while subtly providing potential answers through intricate details across the film’s duration. A sequence in the movie reveals the dietary habits of prisoners within the pit.
Before the film transitions to a scene where someone from the upper floors is indulging in Zamiatin’s pizza. Zamiatin becomes intrigued by the thought of consuming someone else’s food, yet the people above him advocate for solidarity, urging him to remain hungry to ensure everyone gets their share.
As loyalty shatters, the hunger for survival becomes a dangerous obsession (Photo: The Platform 2/Basque Films)This opening sets the stage for the conflict in the movie, dividing the characters within the pit into two main groups: the loyalists and the barbarians. The loyalists hold on to the belief that solidarity is key and they must avoid overindulgence, while the barbarians prioritize their survival and consume as much as they desire.
Perempuan, Zamiatin’s cellmate, initially backs solidarity, but as the horrors of the pit play out, she changes sides. Upon reaching some of the lowest levels, she uncovers answers she had been unaware she was seeking.
What Letting The Child Ascend Means For Perempuan In The Platform 2’s Ending
Perempuan Finds Redemption By Letting The Child Go
As the film draws to a close, a brutal battle erupts between the loyalists and barbarians, leaving almost no survivors. During this chaos, Perempuan takes a drastic step to block her airways by swallowing a torn piece of The Dog painting, causing her to choke and collapse.
This action prevents her from inhaling the gas that the pit’s cleaners use to neutralize the remaining prisoners. The plan works, and when Perempuan regains consciousness, she finds herself attached to a harness designed to collect dead bodies.
But as she descends to Level 333 with the other deceased prisoners, Perempuan notices that the cleaners are bringing a child to the lowest level and tucking him in.
This forces her to make a difficult choice: she can either act selfishly and attempt to escape to the surface of the pit or sacrifice her life to protect the child from the horrors of the prison. After reflecting on her past criminal actions, she chooses to protect the child.
However, while doing so, she hits her head, suggesting that, like Goreng in the original The Platform, she too faces certain death. In her decision to save the child rather than harm him, the platform descends even further below Level 333, reaching a place that represents Perempuan’s conscience.
Here, she encounters projections of other souls, including Zamiatin, who urges her to let the child ascend. They understand that while Perempuan, like them, has found redemption, the corruption of her circumstances has rendered her unworthy of returning to the surface.
Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia confirmed in an interview that the lowest level of the prison does not exist, explaining that “Goreng is dead before he arrives, and that’s just his interpretation of what he needs to do.”
The child, by contrast, is allowed to ascend because of his innocence and purity, which are believed to be crucial in improving the world. By allowing the child to ascend while staying behind, Perempuan makes a final sacrifice that releases her from her guilt and helps her escape her self-imposed purgatory.
In doing so, she also accepts her suffering and comes to understand that redemption requires great sacrifice.
The Symbolism Behind The Drowning Dog Painting Explained
The Painting Is A Reflection Of Perempuan’s Journey
The painting of the drowning dog, which features in the film, was created by the famous Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. Titled El Perro (The Dog), it is often seen as representing the struggle of man against evil forces. In The Platform 2, this painting symbolically mirrors Perempuan’s journey.
As the story progresses, each obstacle she faces grows more difficult as she refuses to take responsibility for her actions in the real world. When Perempuan swallows the painting, she takes responsibility for her past actions and accepts the suffering that comes with them.
This act leads her to a form of death, which paves the way for her redemption and self-forgiveness. Much like the characters in the pit, who seek redemption or come to terms with their faults, the setting can be seen as a reflection of the biblical Tower of Babel.
The Tower of Babel symbolizes humanity’s attempt to reach God through superficial means, just as the characters in The Platform 2 struggle to find peace through self-glorification. Only when Perempuan and Zamiatin surrender to their suffering and acknowledge their mistakes do they begin to move toward redemption.
The Anointed One’s Law Explained
The Law Strictly Promotes Solidarity
To enforce solidarity within the pit, the Anointed One, Dagin Babi, implements a law that his followers, known as the Loyalists, strictly adhere to. These followers are required to eat only the meals they ordered during their initial interviews before entering the pit.
The loyalists maintain a strict code, keeping the top buttons of their shirts closed and ensuring their neighboring cells follow the law. If anyone violates the law, the four people directly above the offender are tasked with meting out punishment.
This law creates a division in the pit, separating the people into two factions:
The Loyalists
The Barbarians
Dagin Babi’s socialist methods stand in opposition to the trickle-down economic system that the pit typically follows. Perempuan initially supports Dagin Babi’s ideals, believing them to be fair.
However, she quickly learns that Dagin Babi’s extreme measures make him no different from the barbarians, leading her to adopt a more moderate stance. She joins the barbarians but refuses to resort to cannibalism to survive.
What The Platform 2’s Ending Means
The Sequel Is Open To Interpretation
If Platform 2’s dystopian world is viewed simply as a distorted social experiment, its ending suggests that the Authority remains in control, no matter whether the prisoners in the pit manage to send the children to Level 0 as “The Message.”
The people above continue their manipulative tactics, maintaining their power over the environment within the prison. Despite this, characters like Perempuan and Goreng, who accept their sins and sacrifice themselves to save the children, offer a glimpse of redemption.
Their actions counterbalance the pervasive hopelessness of the pit, which stems from the Authority’s cruel experiments. In both films, the pit is portrayed as a self-imposed purgatory for the characters, where they either descend further into suffering or repent for their wrongdoings.
By sacrificing themselves for the children, characters like Perempuan and Goreng redeem themselves, providing a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak environment.
The Platform 2 Is A Prequel
The harsh reality of the pit pushes even the most steadfast to change (Photo: The Platform 2/Basque Films)Perempuan Probably Entered The Pit Before Goreng
One of the most surprising revelations at the end of The Platform 2 is that it is not a sequel, but a prequel. Many of the events in The Platform 2 play out simultaneously with the first movie. Once Perempuan reaches Level 333, she realizes that she is now trapped in the bottom level of the prison.
In the final moments of The Platform 2, Goreng from the original The Platform movie arrives, and it is revealed that he is Perempuan’s fiancé when they are reunited. This suggests that Perempuan’s time in the Vertical Management Center overlapped with Goreng’s stay in The Platform and that she likely entered the pit before him.
How The Platform 2’s Ending Sets Up A Third Movie
The Platform Seemingly Has Franchise Potential
The Platform 2’s mid-credits scene hints at the existence of many pits scattered across different parts of the world, which opens up the possibility for a third film. Much like Bird Box, the next installment could take place in a completely different location.
While Platform 2 answers many of the questions left by its predecessor, it also raises new mysteries about the true purpose of the Authority. A third movie could delve deeper into these mysteries and the broader implications of the dystopian world.
However, the future of the franchise depends on the success of The Platform 2 on Netflix.
