WHAT.THE.STEAMING.PILE.OF.DOGSHIT.IS.THIS? When The Platform came out in 2019, it was exciting and a breath of fresh air where dystopian movie creativity was concerned. A vertical frigging prison. Very cool. It was mind-numbing in a way that you just knew there had to be some hidden meaning and message the directors were trying to convey. Of course, they never can come right out and shove that message in your face, and so you’re left trying to decrypt that special meaning. Or you could just be like, fuck it, I’m just watching the movie for what it is and that’s it. I remembered there were unanswered questions and so here we are, almost five years later with the sequel. Or prequel? Whatever the case, not much seems to have been answered upon completion of it. I was so frustratingly close to just stopping the movie, but as usual, I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

If you think you’re going to get a closer examination of how or why the unique prison system was built, you’ll be sorely disappointed. You see, the movie starts off immediately with quick inmate interview shots, and we’re dumped right into prison level 24 with Perempuan and Zamiatin. From there we get a quick introduction on how the prison system, especially on the food part, works. Everyone should play by the rules and only eat the food that was allocated to them every single day. If everyone does their part, there will still be food left on the platform by the time it reaches to level 333. Of course, that’s a big ask, especially when you know, everyone is a criminal. We then learn of The Anointed Ones and how they violently maintain order and discipline on others who don’t follow The Law. Sure enough, our feminine lead disagrees with them and start a violent rebellion of sorts in which she learns of a way to escape the prison system itself.

I guess it sounds better when described on paper or when watching the trailer. The Platform 2 however, is just not a good movie at all when you actually watch it from beginning to end. What exactly is the point of it in relation to The Platform? For a while, you don’t even know if this is a prequel or a sequel to the original. How the hell did her other inmate know to find that “mysterious item” on the floors that will help her stay conscious once the gas is released during the reset? When Perempuan finds it and actually eats it, I start thinking, WTF did I miss where it was told that a piece of paper or the ink it holds allows one to stay conscious when the gas hits? Who brought it in the prison system? Does it even fucking matter anymore at that point? What about the zero gravity surprise? Oh, you got us there directors! More mysteries with no fucking answers! Are we to believe they are in space? On a different planet? Where the fuck did all those kids come from?! Is it even all real?! Finally, does Perempuan die at the end? Because I feel like this shit has been copied from the original. If there actually is no level 333, then where the heck did that kid at the end come from, and why does only he gets to be “saved” and not the rest? I thought this was a fucking prison system where all the inmates needed to be interviewed and decide what specific food they would be eating each day from the platform. Are the directors telling us that a kid is incorruptible and less susceptible to evil due to their young age, and therefore gets a better chance to make a difference in the world than the old timers?

I chose to immediately turn off the movie as soon as the credits rolled. It was only after I learned that there was some footage afterward, but at that point, I didn’t care enough to watch it, only read about it. The first movie was good, but this was just awful. I’m guessing there will be a third film to tie it all up? Also, they should have given the movie a special title instead of just attaching a generic number after it. Like maybe The Platform: Anointed Ones, or The Platform: The Law. Oh, I don’t know, something instead of just a number 2. I was shocked to learn that Zamiatin was played by Hovik Keuchkerian. He was fun to watch in the Red Queen series. Regardless, the problem with this series and so many similar to it is that they try too damn hard to convey some secret message or ulterior meaning to the movie. But in doing so, they leave many plot holes and yet more unanswered questions.