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The Platform 2

Farhad Dalal Founder
By-
Farhad Dalal
Rating
2 Star popcorn reviewss

Introduction

In a scene in the Hindi film Luck By Chance, a movie scene is shown to be discussed wherein the makers aren’t happy with its ‘negative’ ending. And during the brainstorming session, you see the character of Anurag Kashyap (who plays the writer) suggesting that they change the ending such that the character suddenly undergoes a transformation for ‘opting’ to be hanged. To this, the character of Rishi Kapoor who is the producer retorts, ‘Oye Institute, Main Yeh Film Festival Ke Liye Nahi Bana Raha’ (You Film Institute, I am not making this for a film festival). The response was hilarious while watching the ending of the new Spanish film The Platform 2 on Netflix, I had the same sentiment. The Platform 2 is the followup film of the breakthrough Spanish film The Platform that released during the lockdown to a massive response. The rules of the game in The Platform was simple – a giant table containing food, 333 floors, a stoppage of 2 minutes wherein you could eat all of it before the table shifts levels, and the catch being that folks at the top would enjoy the best items of the table with the food decreasing to alarming low levels after every stoppage. The concept of capitalism was brilliantly explored in the drama that also doubled up as a mirror for the society. Needless to say, the concept was fresh, mysterious and shocking. 

The idea of serving up a sequel to an already popular film comes with its challenges. Firstly, the expectation is to serve something better than the first part while having to dabble with the same concept. And if the same concept isn’t maintained, then you all saw what happened with Joker : Folie a Deux and its disastrous response (although the film was good for me). In that regard, The Platform 2 had a huge mountain to climb given that the freshness of the concept was already spent with the first film, and deviating from the concept was never an option. 

Story & Screenplay

The premise of The Platform 2 follows the same set of guidelines as the first film. The only difference being its beginning – in The Platform 1, you see a character suddenly waking up in a cell with absolutely no backstory. This was such a brilliant start because the protagonist and the viewers were at the same level of knowing the whereabouts of the place that itself doubled up as a mysterious character. The writers never had the same luxury here given the staleness of the concept, and you the opening scene marks the interacting of a fresh bunch of characters to the interviewer who asks them the weapon of their choice and a dish that they would wish to order. Instantly, you are introduced to the protagonist who finds herself with her inmate, while being reminded of the laws of the place for a smoother communication and equal distribution of food. In other words, the laws of the land are same and completely seamless theoretically speaking, but rarely on the practical front. This, even as the concepts of capitalism and communism.

To be fair, the writers do try to build on a similar premise even as you are acquainted with the protagonist and the time that she spends with her cellmates. The writing does briefly dwell into the lives of her cellmates too while playing on the physical perceptions of characters and allowing the viewers enough time to invest in them. Yet, in the larger scheme of things the one important ingredient that is missing is the emotional connect, something that you strongly felt with the protagonist in the first part. To the viewers, the character of Goreng (Ivan Massague) was an underdog and his survival was equated with a sense of accomplishment amidst the wave of capitalism associated with the universe. But here, the drama suffers from the deja-vu effect along with the switching loyalties of the protagonist that adds to the disconnect.

In the first film, Goreng seemed like a victim of the circumstances that made me feel for him. However, here Perempuan (Milena Smit) felt liked a confused version of Goreng who would resort to any level to ultimately escape. But she did start-off as a character that was loyal to the laws of the land until she was witness to the autocratic behavior of the Administrators. This argument was fine provided her rebellious streak was established early on which would have then justified her act of switching sides. The confused state of the writing was evident between the writing aiming for an underdog story of survival to something more dramatic.

The drama is still watchable even while serving more of the same in its first two acts. However, the tone of the drama completely changes in its peculiar final act that reflected the desperation of the makers and writers to convert this familiar drama into something more purposeful. Yes, the ingredients were all there wherein Perempuan triggers her escape following the plan of her cellmate (by swallowing a part of the dog painting and rendering herself unconscious during the monthly roll over), and after a battle between the Loyaltists and the Barbarians that leaves most folks dead. But the dilemma that the character faces once being at the bottom of the pit just made me chuckle a bit. This wasn’t because the protagonist opted for a selfless act of giving up her life in exchange for a child that she saw being introduced by the administrators (probably as a guinea pig), but because her backstory of guilt and realisation came at a very convenient point as a flashback. It was almost as an afterthought giving an impression that the writers did not know how to put an end to the drama. Even more ridiculous was the writers’ attempt to link the events of this film to the previous film that felt unorganic, making The Platform 2 a needless prequel. The screenplay had nothing new to say and it tried to be hilariously purposeful at the end.

Dialogues, Music & Direction

The dialogues are conversational but lack the empathy and emotional connect from the first part. The BGM is decent but doesn’t quite heighten the drama at any juncture. The cinematography comprises of frames that are gory and aesthetically shot thereby cutting out a picture of effort with the addition of action set-pieces that were expertly choregraphed. The editing is decent but loses its way in the final act with respect to the coherence in the drama. Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia misses the mark this time around in trying hard to make the drama purposeful. What the drama ideally needed was another fresh layer of capitalism in the universe instead of serving the same stale concept all over again. Even from an emotional standpoint, the director fails to stir up any emotions that makes the drama tasteless in many ways.

Performances

The performances are good by the members of the cast. Natalia Tena and Hovik Keuchkerian have their moments to shine and they manage to impress. But the film revolves around Milena Smit who is excellent as Perempeun and really tries hard to make things work despite a one-dimensional script underway. But no actor is bigger than the script, a fact that is proven all over again.

Conclusion

The Platform 2 is mediocre drama resembling an endless pit with a deja-vu effect that ends up being just an average watch. When the drama has nothing new to offer, you can’t help but think that it was another cash-cow to build on the success of the first film. And this ended up being a huge disappointment. Available on Netflix.

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