- Starring
- Milena Smit, Hovik Keuchkerian, Natalia Tena
- Writers
- David Desola, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, Egoitz Moreno, Pedro Rivero
- Director
- Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 99 minutes
- Release Date
- October 4th, 2024 (Netflix)
Overall Score
Rating Summary
The Platform 2 is a follow up to the 2020 Netflix smash hit The Platform. Set in the same prison as the first film, a new mysterious leader imposes their rule in the platform as a new resident, Perempuan (Smit), becomes embroiled in the battle against this controversial method to fight the brutal feeding system. But when eating from the wrong plate becomes a death sentence, how far would one be willing to go to save their life? While The Platform was a big hit for Netflix when it released in the early days of the pandemic, the film felt very standalone, and it seemed like nobody was asking for a sequel despite its strong reception. This sequel doesn’t ruin the legacy of the first and is undoubtedly bigger in scope, but bigger doesn’t always mean better as it never truly justifies its existence.
Though inferior to the original in just about every way, it is far from a bad film with quite a few good things going for it. It starts off on a very strong note, and the first act is actually very enjoyable. It successfully reintroduces audiences to the film’s world and offers some interesting new characters to invest in. Smit does a great job as the lead, making for a character many will hope to see survive in one piece. Meanwhile, Keuchkerian is also very good as Zamiatin, a character that is a lot different than what audiences may expect. Having strong chemistry with Smit, despite how horrific and disgusting the film gets, they have a sweet relationship that gives it a surprising bit of heart and humanity. Doing a great job at getting audiences to care about them, this was where the film was at its best. Like the first film, it is full of social commentary to ponder over.
That being said, following the opening act, the film goes downhill quickly with each passing minute. While its attempts to build out its world are commendable, but the further it goes, the more it loses sight of what made the original as effective as it was. The story gets needlessly convoluted as it adds more characters and plotlines, and the longer it goes, the more ridiculous it becomes. Not helping its case are some distractingly bad visual effects that are much more prominent than many would like. Going off the rails in its third act, the result is a highly underwhelming ending that will leave audiences with far more questions than answers. Not without its surprises, the problem was that they simply lacked any kind of impact whatsoever as the film doesn’t do nearly enough with them either way. While there are so many good ideas to be had here, they aren’t executed to their fullest potential, leaving a lot to be desired.
In the end, big fans of the original might still enjoy the sequel, but it is more or less just more of the same with very little to add. It is honestly kind of a shock that the director of the original film returns for a sequel that, while watchable and reasonably entertaining, is a big step down from a quality and storytelling perspective compared the original. It will certainly be interesting to see how the film will ultimately be received and performs in comparison to the its predecessor.
still courtesy of Netflix
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