At the end of the first movie, the fate of The Platform's Goreng is left up in the air, causing many to wonder if the film's main character died.
Netflix's Spanish-language sci-fi hit debuted in 2019. It tells the story of a terrifying future where criminals are forced to live in a derelict tower-like structure. As part of this bizarre vertical prison, a platform (from which the film derives its name) brings food to each floor, starting at the top and slowly descending.
Audiences follow one resident of the tower known as Goreng (played by Iván Massagué) in the film as he is swapped between floors and has to deal with the shocking realities of each one.
How Does The Platform End?
Although the movie never confirms this, many have assumed that Iván Massagué's Goreng died at the end of The Platform.
The hit Netflix thriller, which sees prisoners left to fend for themselves in a vertical prison (known as The Hole) where food is distributed on a platform slowly downward floor-by-floor, ends with Goreng making one last act of defiance to those who run this Machiavellian penitentiary.
Throughout the film, Goreng is seen living on multiple floors, as prisoners are shuffled randomly once a month.
Because of this, the movie's central prisoner is shown finding out just how dire a reality some of the lower levels are living in, as food is not equally shared between the prison's multiple levels.
So, Goreng makes it his mission to prove to The Hole's overwatch team that these prisoners will not give in to the human mind's selfish desires by descending on the platform and ensuring his fellow inmates ration the food and split their meals equally between floors.
With each successive floor, Goreng is met with conflict. While some prisoners take to the idea of rebellion, others cannot help themselves and cause violent scenes in which Goreng has to deal with himself.
Finally reaching the deepest depths of the prison, Goreng is met with a young girl, assumed to be a female prisoner he had befriended and sadly died earlier in the film. Goreng uses the girl as his final defiance toward The Hole's directing team, feeding her the luxurious panna cotta dessert plate he had been saving down to floor 333.
After offering the girl the panna cotta and descending further into The Hole's depths, the film cuts to a final scene with Goreng. He finds himself in conversation with Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi, a character Goreng had seemingly killed earlier in the movie.
Goreng tells Trimagasi that they must keep going, as the message he is trying to send needs a bearer. Imoguiri explains to him that the young girl is all they need.
The two then walk off into the distance as the young girl climbs atop the platform and ascends back up through the prison.
Did Goreng Die in The Platform?
Given this ambiguous ending, it is not surprising that fans seem to think Goreng has died by the time the credits roll in The Platform.
Seeing as Goreng's final conversation is with Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi, whom he killed earlier in the movie, it seems likely that he died at some point on his journey downward through The Hole, perhaps after getting the panna cotta to the young girl on the levels above.
According to The Platform director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, "that lowest level doesn't exist [and] Goreng is dead before he arrives," seemingly confirming the fate of the movie's main character (via Digital Spy):
"To me, that lowest level doesn't exist. Goreng is dead before he arrives, and that's just his interpretation of what he felt he had to do. Ultimately I wanted it to be open to interpretation, whether the plan worked and the higher-ups even care about the people in the pit. We actually did film a different ending of the girl arriving at the first level, but we took it out of the movie. I'll leave what happens to your imagination."
It remains to be seen whether the young girl seen at the end of the film makes it to the top floor without being torn about by The Hole's ruthless inhabitants. Still, according to Urrutia, Iván Massagué's Platform character is definitively dead.
Goreng's fate is further explored in the recently released sequel, The Platform 2, where the character appears in a post-credits scene.
In the movie's stinger, Goreng pops up and is recognized by its central prisoner, Perempuán, which seems to imply that she, too, is dead and that the two Platform series protagonists have been reunited in death.
The Platform is streaming on Netflix.
