Movie Reviews – The 2019 Spanish thriller The Platform shocked audiences around the world with its disturbing yet brilliant take on class inequality, greed, and human survival. Set in a vertical prison known only as “The Pit,” the film turned a simple premise food descending from the top to the bottom into a horrifying reflection of real-world social hierarchies. Now, with The Platform 2, the nightmare continues.
The sequel dives even deeper into the unsettling world of the prison, expanding on its mysteries, introducing new characters, and exploring the dark consequences of unchecked hunger not just for food, but for power, morality, and redemption.
In The Platform 2, the story returns to the grim structure that horrified audiences but this time, it’s not just about survival. It’s about understanding how such a system came to exist and whether humanity can truly escape the cycle of greed and violence that defines it.
The sequel picks up years after the original events. The vertical prison still stands as a nightmarish monument to human cruelty and apathy. Known officially as “The Vertical Self-Management Center”, it continues to operate under its cruel system: a platform of food that descends from the top level to the bottom, stopping briefly at each floor before continuing downward.
Those lucky enough to occupy the upper levels feast on extravagant meals, while those below are left with scraps or nothing at all. It’s a literal representation of social stratification, where privilege feeds at the expense of the powerless.
In The Platform 2, however, we learn that the prison’s true name The Pit carries more significance than before. Through new characters and flashbacks, the film reveals that The Pit was not merely designed for punishment, but as a social experiment that has spiraled out of control. What began as a study in cooperation and resource sharing has devolved into a ritual of despair and violence.
The sequel adds new layers of mystery, including cryptic symbols carved into the concrete walls, and whispers of something supernatural lurking deep below the lowest level something that challenges both science and faith.
The Platform 2 introduces a new cast of prisoners, each representing a facet of modern society’s corruption and moral decay. While the original film centered around Goreng and his philosophical descent, the sequel opts for a broader ensemble narrative.
Lucía, a former scientist who once worked for the prison administration. Now imprisoned herself, she seeks to expose the truth about the experiment’s origins.
Raúl, a charismatic yet ruthless leader who rallies the upper floors to establish an authoritarian hierarchy controlling not only the food but the very rules of survival.
Mateo, a quiet young man who believes he can communicate with “voices” coming from the lower levels hinting at the supernatural undertones that make this sequel even more chilling.
Nura, a mother separated from her child, whose emotional arc mirrors the desperation of Miha in the first film.
Together, these new characters form uneasy alliances and brutal rivalries, reflecting the eternal question posed by The Platform:
The film cleverly expands its moral conflict beyond food scarcity. Now, power itself becomes the ultimate meal consumed greedily by those who can, hoarded by those who fear losing it, and fought over by those desperate to taste it even once.
In The Platform 2, the balance of chaos and order takes center stage. When Raúl, the self-proclaimed “Guardian of the Upper Levels,” takes control, the prison transforms from anarchy into tyranny. Using fear and manipulation, he imposes strict rules about who eats, when, and how much.
Under Raúl’s regime, cooperation becomes impossible. Those who defy his new order are punished and thrown to lower levels as “traitors.” The pit, already cruel, becomes even more oppressive mirroring the idea that even in systems designed to encourage equality, human greed inevitably rebuilds hierarchies.
This storyline drives the sequel’s thematic evolution. If the first film was about survival and morality, the second is about corruption and control. Raúl’s dominance exposes how easily humanity replaces one tyranny with another, even in environments where survival should demand unity.
One of the most intriguing aspects of The Platform 2 is its decision to expand the universe beyond The Pit. Through flashbacks, documents, and conversations, we learn more about the organization responsible for the prison.
Viewers discover that The Pit wasn’t isolated there are multiple facilities scattered across different regions, each conducting its own version of the experiment. The system, once thought to be an isolated dystopia, is revealed to be part of a larger global program, possibly run by governments or corporations seeking to study or manipulate social behavior.
Lucía’s backstory becomes crucial here. As a former scientist, she possesses secret knowledge about The Pit’s origins including how its creators once believed they could “train humanity” to share resources fairly. Instead, the experiment exposed the darkest truths about human nature.
The sequel also explores the aftermath of Goreng’s mysterious ending from the first film. Did his message reach the surface? Did it change anything? The Platform 2 doesn’t provide clear answers, but hints that his sacrifice inspired rumors among inmates legends of a “messenger” who once tried to bring balance to the system.
While the first Platform relied on psychological tension and social allegory, The Platform 2 adds a new, unexpected layer supernatural elements.
As the characters descend deeper into the lower levels, strange phenomena begin to occur. Whispers echo through the concrete walls. Lights flicker without power. The deeper they go, the more reality begins to bend.
Mateo’s “voices” turn out to be part of a chilling mystery perhaps the lingering spirits of those who died in The Pit, or perhaps manifestations of guilt and madness. The supernatural isn’t used as mere spectacle; it serves to amplify the psychological terror of the environment.
This eerie addition divides the film’s tone between existential dread and cosmic horror. It suggests that The Pit might not just be a physical structure, but a metaphorical and metaphysical one a manifestation of human sin, existing outside time and space.
The combination of dystopian sci-fi and supernatural horror gives the sequel its unique identity, expanding the franchise beyond its minimalist roots into something larger and more mythological.
Despite its darker and more mysterious tone, The Platform 2 remains deeply political. Like its predecessor, it critiques modern society’s obsession with consumption, class privilege, and moral decay.
The film draws uncomfortable parallels between the prison and the real world. The top floors represent the wealthy elite, drowning in excess while ignoring the suffering below. The middle levels symbolize the struggling middle class, desperate to climb higher but terrified of falling. And the bottom levels starving, desperate, and forgotten embody the oppressed masses crushed by inequality.
By reintroducing the platform’s mechanics, The Platform 2 reinforces the futility of such systems. The rich and powerful always find ways to secure their portion, while the lower levels are forced into barbarity. The film’s message is hauntingly clear:
“Even when given the chance to share, humanity chooses to consume.”
This time, however, the film expands the conversation to include responsibility and complicity. Lucía’s arc asks whether scientists, policymakers, and intellectuals who create systems like The Pit are equally to blame for the suffering they cause.
Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s return ensures The Platform 2 maintains the stark, oppressive visual style that made the original so memorable. The vertical prison remains the centerpiece endless gray walls, steel doors, and flickering lights that evoke hopelessness.
However, the sequel introduces new locations, including the “core” a mysterious chamber beneath the lowest known level, where the film’s most horrifying secrets are revealed. These new environments are rendered with stunning cinematography that captures both the claustrophobia and the otherworldly scale of the prison.
The sound design is equally powerful. The creak of the descending platform, the distant echoes of screams, and the faint hum of machinery all combine to create a constant sense of dread. When silence falls, it’s deafening a reminder that in The Pit, even quiet moments mean danger is near.
At its heart, The Platform 2 asks whether humanity is capable of change. The first film ended on an ambiguous note a fragile hope amid despair. The sequel dares to question that hope.
Are humans inherently selfish, or can they learn to share and rebuild a fairer system? Can redemption be found in a world built on exploitation?
By introducing supernatural themes and new moral conflicts, The Platform 2 suggests that greed itself is a kind of curse one that transcends individuals and infects entire civilizations. The film’s haunting conclusion leaves viewers questioning not only the fate of its characters but the fate of society itself.
The Platform 2 A Darker Descent Into the Pit of Greed and Survival succeeds in taking audiences further down the moral and psychological abyss that made the first film unforgettable. With new characters, expanded lore, and an unnerving blend of dystopian and supernatural horror, it reinforces the franchise’s message: that the true horror of humanity lies not in monsters or ghosts, but in our own reflection.
As the credits roll, one thing becomes clear The Pit was never just a prison. It’s a mirror, showing us who we really are when the food runs out, when morality collapses, and when survival becomes the only law left standing.
