Exploring the Ending of The Platform 2: What Becomes of Perempuan?
Much like its predecessor, The Platform 2 deliberately leaves viewers with numerous unanswered questions, yet it weaves in subtle details throughout the film that might provide some clarity. After a sequence illustrating the dietary habits of the prisoners below, the film quickly transitions to a scene where a character from the upper levels indulges in Zamiatin’s pizza. Zamiatin becomes tempted by the idea of consuming someone else’s food, but the residents above him preach solidarity and encourage him to endure hunger for the benefit of all.
This opening sequence establishes the film’s central conflict, underscoring the division among the pit’s inhabitants: the loyalists versus the barbarians. The loyalists advocate for solidarity and restraint, while the barbarians prioritize their own survival and consume freely. Initially, Zamiatin’s cellmate, Perempuan, aligns with the loyalists, but the grim realities of the pit lead her to change her allegiance. However, upon reaching the lower levels of the prison, she uncovers the answers she had been seeking.
What the Child’s Ascendancy Means for Perempuan in The Platform 2‘s Conclusion
Perempuan Achieves Redemption by Releasing the Child
In the climactic moments of The Platform 2, a brutal conflict erupts between the loyalists and barbarians, resulting in almost total devastation. Seizing an opportunity, Perempuan blocks her airways by swallowing a piece of the torn Dog painting, causing her to choke and collapse. This action prevents her from inhaling the gas used by the cleaners to eliminate the remaining prisoners. When she regains consciousness, she finds herself being attached to the harness used to collect the corpses.
To her astonishment, as she descends to Level 333 with the other bodies, she witnesses the cleaners bringing a child to the very bottom level and tucking him in. In this moment, she faces a critical decision: to act selfishly and escape to the surface or risk her life to protect the child from the horrors of the prison. Reflecting on her past wrongdoings, she chooses the latter. However, in the process of saving the child, she sustains a head injury, suggesting that, like Goreng in the original Platform, she, too, experiences a form of death.
By choosing to protect the child rather than harm him, the platform descends further, reaching a level that seems to represent Perempuan’s conscience. Here, she encounters other souls, including Zamiatin, who are manifestations of her dying mind, urging her to allow the child to ascend. They realize that, despite Perempuan’s redemption, her circumstances have tainted her, making her unworthy of returning.
In an interview with Digital Spy, director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia confirmed that the lowest level is a construct: “Goreng is dead before he arrives, and that’s just his interpretation of what he needs to do.”
In contrast, the child is allowed to ascend because his innocence and purity will play a vital role in creating a better future. By permitting the child to rise while she remains behind, Perempuan makes her ultimate sacrifice, liberating herself from guilt and escaping her self-imposed purgatory. Simultaneously, she accepts her suffering, acknowledging that redemption comes with a price.
Understanding the Mid-Credits Scene of The Platform 2
Connecting the Sequel to Its Predecessor
In the mid-credits scene of The Platform 2, numerous prisoners descend to the bottom of the pit, each accompanied by different children. This scene suggests that while many continue to endure suffering within the vertical prison, some redeem themselves by rescuing the children at Level 333. Additionally, it reveals that the Authority places a new child at this level every month.
This mid-credits scene may also imply that the Authority has constructed numerous similar vertical prisons worldwide, subjecting each to the same social experiments. Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia confirmed this in an interview with Collider, stating, “Many [prisons exist] and in many different ways,” when asked if similar facilities are in operation elsewhere.
The Purpose Behind the Authority’s Placement of Children at Level 333
Children as Instruments of the Greater Social Experiment
The Authority’s rationale for conducting the social experiment in the pit remains somewhat ambiguous. However, it appears they are not interested in fostering solidarity among the prisoners. Instead, they aim to observe the conditions that lead to acts of solidarity. Essentially, the prisoners are viewed as mere subjects in an experiment designed to explore the depths of human behavior, possibly to apply these findings in the real world for control purposes. As depicted in The Platform 2‘s conclusion, the children are similarly utilized as pawns in this grand experiment.
The Authority’s willingness to place children in such perilous circumstances indicates their disregard for the well-being of the participants. The fact that they even exploit children underscores the lengths they will go to exert dominance over the masses. Although the prisoners remain oblivious to the child’s fate at Level 333, they feel a sense of hope when they send the child to the surface. Yet, given the Authority’s indifference, it is plausible they do not concern themselves with whether the children escape unharmed.
Perempuan’s Journey to the Pit
A Quest for Liberation from Guilt
Flashes from Perempuan’s interview before her descent into the pit reveal her as a talented artist who had previously created a dangerous sculpture of a dog with sharp edges. Despite warnings to surround it with safety measures, she ignored the advice. One day, during a visit from her boyfriend, his son tragically slipped and fell onto one of the jagged edges of the sculpture. Rather than own up to her negligence, Perempuan hired the best lawyers to evade prison.
