The Platform 2 (Spanish: El hoyo 2, lit. 'The Hole 2') is a 2024 Spanish science fiction horror film directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. A prequel to Gaztelu-Urrutia's The Platform (2019), it stars Milena Smit and Hovik Keuchkerian. It was released on October 4, 2024 to mixed reviews.

Plot

The Vertical Self-Management Center is a dystopian prison with a unique structure: 333 floors with a hole in the center. Each day, a Platform loaded with food descends through this hole, stopping at each level for two minutes. Prisoners on higher floors have first access to the food, while those on lower levels risk starvation. At the end of each month, prisoners are randomly reassigned to new floors. Before entering, each inmate is interviewed and allowed to bring one personal item. The story primarily follows Perempuán, who joined out of grief after she inadvertently caused the death of her then-fiancé's son in an accident. She is initially placed on level 24 with Zamiatin, with whom she encounters the prison's social dynamics. Two factions exist among the prisoners: Loyalists, who follow self-imposed rules about eating only their chosen food or trading voluntarily, and Barbarians, who eat whatever they can grab. Robespierre, a Loyalist from level 23, introduces them to this system, arguing it ensures fairer food distribution. Tensions quickly escalate when prisoners from higher levels eat food meant for others. A violent conflict erupts, resulting in deaths and injuries. Perempuán and Robespierre fight to defend their level and maintain order. During this chaos, they learn about "The Master" or "The Messiah," a mythical figure who allegedly survived a month without food through meditation, then sacrificed his own leg to feed others on the lowest levels. His followers, known as the Anointed Ones, spread his message of solidarity. As days pass, Zamiatin and Perempuán grow closer, sharing food and personal stories. Zamiatin reveals his background as a disillusioned mathematician, while Perempuán hints at a tragic past involving her ex-partner's child. Their budding relationship is cut short when they're reassigned to level 180, where no food reaches them. Zamiatin, already ill, sacrifices himself to protect Perempuán from punishment for harboring him. The next month, Perempuán is paired with Sahabat on level 51. Sahabat, missing an arm, shares her harrowing experiences with the Anointed Ones, particularly a brutal leader named Dagin Babi. They learn that Dagin is systematically killing accused Barbarians throughout the prison. Sahabat reveals a potential escape plan: fake death by consuming a toxic substance, hoping to be disposed of outside the facility. She believes an oil painting brought by a prisoner could serve this purpose. This information becomes crucial for Perempuán's subsequent actions. When Dagin and his followers arrive, Sahabat is killed and Perempuán is left traumatized and missing an arm. In the following month, Perempuán wakes up on level 72 with a new cellmate, Trimagasi, whose personal item is a knife. Disillusioned with the Loyalist ideals, Perempuán recruits a group of Barbarians, ostensibly to challenge the Loyalists but secretly to help her find the painting she needs for escape. A massive battle ensues between the Loyalists, led by Dagin Babi, and Perempuán's group of Barbarians. The fight is brutal and bloody, leaving everyone dead but Perempuán and Trimagasi survive. Perempuán decides to attempt the escape plan, eating her oil painting and passing out. She wakes up among corpses being disposed of, realizing she's reached level 333. Here, Perempuán makes a shocking discovery: the facility keeps children as tools to manipulate prisoners, using them as false symbols of hope or to prevent escape attempts. She tries to save a boy but fails due to the gravity, which is changed during the body retrieval. The story concludes with Perempuán at the bottom level of the prison, sending the boy back up and remaining below to live with other survivors. During the credits, more prisoners are shown arriving with children over time, revealing the cyclical and manipulative nature of the prison system. The final scene concludes right after the end of the previous film, and shows Perempuán reuniting with Goreng, who is revealed to be her ex-fiancé.

Cast

Milena Smit as Perempuan Hovik Keuchkerian as Zamiatin Natalia Tena as Sahabat Óscar Jaenada as Dagin Babi Iván Massagué as Goreng Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi Antonia San Juan as Imoguiri

Production

The original film was released on Netflix in March 2020. Subsequently, the film received a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the company revealed the film had been watched by 56 million households over its first four weeks of release, among the most-ever for one of their original films. Discussions of a sequel emerged shortly after the film's success in 2020. In May 2023, Netflix reported the beginning of filming of the follow-up with Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia returning as director and starring Hovik Keuchkerian and Milena Smit. Shooting locations included the BEC in Barakaldo.

Release

The film was selected for screening in the 'Culinary Zinema' section of the 72nd San Sebastián International Film Festival. It was released on Netflix on October 4, 2024.

Reception

= Critical response

= On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. In his review for The Guardian, Jesse Hassenger noted that while the film's "Grindhouse thought experiments" are engaging and suggest a stronger interest in speculative fiction than a singular thematic message, it ultimately falls short. He critiqued the film for moving too quickly and carelessly to develop its characters, stating that although Perempuán emerges as the lead and Smit performs well, the story lacks stability, constantly shifting beneath her. Hassenger gave the film two out of five stars. Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com delivered a scathing review of The Platform 2, criticizing the film for offering little beyond repeating the original. He argued that the movie quickly falls into rehashing the same "premonitions and metaphors" from its predecessor, even bringing back a character from the first film without adding anything new. Daniels went on to suggest that it might have been better if The Platform 2 had never been released, ultimately giving the film a rating of one and a half stars out of five. David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a 'C+' rating, writing that while there is enough "squelchy awfulness on display to keep horror fans engaged until the third act", the "film grows bored with the limits and implications of its own metaphor".

See also

List of Spanish films of 2024

Notes

References

External links

The Platform 2 at IMDb The Platform 2 Cast List at Screen Rant