The Platform 2 ending explained: How is Netflix's sequel connected to the original?

The basic concept is the same, too: the titular platform is filled with food each day before it descends from the top floor to the bottom.

In theory, there's enough food for every prisoner who lives on every floor, but only if everyone shares it fairly. Otherwise, by the time the platform hits the bottom, there's no food left at all, and the prisoners down there need to find sustenance of a different kind. Namely, each other.

However, this time around, the inmates have discovered a way to make the system fairer. Heaven forbid you eat anything more than what's been allocated to you, because that leads to a reckoning with select inmates known as the Anointed Ones who punish lawbreakers through any means necessary.

The Platform 2 revolves around new cellmates, Perempuán and Zamiatin, who have just arrived at the Pit, on floor 24.

We follow them as they learn about these rules which have been implemented by a mysterious figure known as the Master.

Inevitably, complete chaos ensues.

If you've still got questions after watching the ending, including whether the Netflix film is a prequel or a sequel, read on for everything you need to know.

The Platform 2 ending explained: Is the Netflix film a prequel or sequel?

After Zamiatin's self-immolation, Perempuán's replacement cellmate reveals a plan to escape, but she's murdered by a ruthless Anointed One named Dagin Babi before there's time to go through with it.

It turns out that there's a special item somewhere in the prison that can be ingested to prevent you from falling asleep when the gas knocks everyone out at the end of the month during the prison's reset.

One mutiny later, Perempuán finds the special substance on a lower level and hides out, even eating other inmates as she waits for the month to end and for The Interval to begin.

Dozens die around her, but Perempuán continues to survive up until the moment the gas puts everyone else to sleep except her.

The workers of the Pit arrive to collect the dead bodies and clean up ready for a new intake. The time is now, but then Perempuán spots a kid left behind by one of the guards on the 333rd floor. Instead of saving herself, Perempuán does the right thing and helps the boy.

Together, they descend to the bottom of the Pit where they meet a group of people waiting. A woman reveals to Perempuán that only children can ascend, which means her journey has come to an end. At least the boy will have another chance, though. And with that, The Platform 2 ends on a grim, yet still hopeful note.

It's here we should note that Perempuán is almost certainly dead. While she tried to save the child, she lost a lot of blood as her head kept hitting the sides of the concrete. And that group waiting to receive her? They're actually a bunch of dead characters.

That's not all, either.

Post-credits, we return to the Pit and watch as the platform goes down to the bottom three times with an adult and a child each time. Then, we're suddenly introduced to a fourth pair who will be very familiar to fans of the first film.

Yep, that's Goreng. 2020 onwards has been a bit of a blur, so for anyone who needs reminding, Goreng was actually the protagonist of that first movie. When we last saw him, it wasn't clear if he had died or not.

Perempuán suddenly shows up, and she actually recognises Goreng. "You, what are you doing here?" she asks. The pair hug it out, and then the movie ends for real with them both in each other's arms.

That means The Platform 2 isn't a sequel, after all. It's actually a prequel, because the post-credits scene is actually just an extension of a moment we had seen previously in the first film.

But what does this mean for Perempuán and Goreng's connection? While nothing's actually confirmed here, it's safe to bet that they were once a couple.

Earlier on, Perempuán tells the story of an exhibition that went horribly wrong when her boyfriend's son was killed after he tripped and one of the blades went into his eye.

Could this tragedy be the reason why Goreng signed up to join the Pit? There's no mention of this in the first film — he simply "wanted to quit smoking and read Don Quixote", apparently — but this is exactly the kind of painful loss that could drive a person to make poor decisions like this.

And don't forget Trimagasi, another key connection between the two films.

In the first Platform movie, Trimagasi is Goreng's cellmate, and it's clear he's been there some time, but here in The Platform 2, Trimagasi is newly incarcerated alongside Perempuán. It sucks to be Perempuán in this case, because Trimagasi is extremely open to cannibalism…

Then there's Miharu, a somewhat sympathetic figure in the first film who's out on a killing spree looking for her so-called daughter. After befriending Goreng, Miharu is eventually killed by a rogue inmate. But the Miharu we meet now in The Platform 2 prequel is very different.

Here, we see Miharu and a mysterious man enter a room full of children playing. They pick out a boy, the same one Perempuán will eventually go on to save at the end, and she doesn't even look at Mari, the girl we were led to believe was her daughter.

The room itself is a mystery, too. Why are these kids here and why are they being placed in the last level of the Pit? Are they there to test survivors like Perempuán who are on the verge of escaping? Or is their inclusion merely symbolic, this idea that we're all just primal creatures deep down who will prioritise survival above all else?

Either way, it looks like Miharu is actually part of the Administration, although it's entirely possible we'll learn more of the truth about her in a potential third Platform movie.

Let's hope so, because we still don't know who the Master is yet either, or whether they're even alive by this point. And as messed up as a third film will be, never knowing the answers to these questions is disturbing in its own way too.

The Platform 2 is streaming on Netflix now – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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