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In a lot of ways,The Platform 2is a prime example of diminishing franchise returns.
Director and co-writer Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia milked that premise for about all it was worth the first time around.
But becauseThe Platformwas a sleeper hit on Netflix, a second helping was all but inevitable.
Unfortunately, Gaztelu-Urrutia hasnt so much varied or escalated his allegorical scenario as simply trotted it out again.
The child becomes the message.
But the ending ofThe Platform 2extinguishes that hope in a rather withering way.
As it turns out, the people running the Pit are planting false symbols of hope.
Its an ending that completely recontextualizes the revolutionary optics of the first films closing minutes.
And its even more damning once you suss out the actual timeline of events.
For a while, it appears thatThe Platform 2might be taking place in the aftermath ofThe Platform.
Whereas the ending of the original once looked faintly optimistic maybe things will change in the Pit!
it now looks like a pointless, futile gesture built on a lie.
The architects have folded inevitable revolutionary impulses into the very design of their unjust society.
Its an epic downer, but Gaztelu-Urrutia isnt just dampening our spirits for the hell of it.
Theres a larger point to be gleaned fromThe Platform 2s despairing ending.
You cant reform a system that doesnt provide for all.
you’re free to only escape it or tear it down.
