Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay Personally, I never understood the sheer amount of vitriol and derision for The Purge franchise. Having seen the second through fourth films in theaters on opening weekend, I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single one of these silly-yet-tense horror flicks. But it’s more than that, to be honest. For what these films are, I love them to death!
Why? I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out… 😉 The Purge (2013) I don’t remember having strong feelings one way or the other towards The Purge, the first film in this ludicrous franchise. I found to be a perfectly entertaining, claustrophobic thriller with some cool moments from Ethan Hawke. On a rewatch, however, I simply cannot defend this movie. To be clear, however, none of my issues with The Purge have to do with the concept itself. To tell a horror story in an alternate near-future wherein one 12-hour-period of legalized violence is justified by the virtual non-existence of poverty and unemployment―while a bit silly―has tons of potential for fun storytelling. Being able to satirize sociopolitical and socioeconomic tensions in present-day American society by exacerbating the craziest of the crazies into psychopathic killers seems quite juicy for a horror-thriller-slasher premise. Unfortunately, The Purge utterly fails in almost every conceivable way to deliver on the promise of its premise. By setting the main story for the film almost completely within the confines of a suburban home and focusing on an upper-class vanilla-white family, the film lacks any sort of intriguing perspective on the night of the Purge. Not only is the setting so confining that it lacks any imagination or ennui, but the Sandin family (Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane) has no single interesting character trait or motivation among them. They seem incredibly confused as to whether or not they support the Purge, and are over-prepared for something breaking into their home but are largely helpless fools when it gets broken into. In terms of the over-the-top, bloody action that comes to define the franchise in its later entries, The Purge has little to offer in that realm either. While Ethan Hawke’s character has some decent shoot-em-up moments defending his home and his family, the one (and only) solid action moment is towards the film’s end when Lena Headey’s character smashes in the face of one of her murderous neighbors for trying to commit violence minutes before the Purge ends. Otherwise, the action in The Purge is lackluster and, ultimately, left something to be desired. Also, there’s no dark humor in the film. Later entries (notably The Purge: Election Year) have some truly funny moments that alleviate much of the suspense-filled tension that defines the franchise. But this first movie takes itself far too seriously in tone without backing that up with smart writing or compelling characters, and thus the identity of the franchise has yet to be cemented in any meaningful way. Overall, The Purge is a less-than-adequate suspense movie that pales in comparison to its successors. Even if you find yourself uninterested in delving into this franchise, I highly recommend skipping this one altogether. The Purge: Anarchy (2014) This is the film in The Purge franchise that starts moving in the right direction. Virtually all of the criticisms of the first film go out the window after watching The Purge: Anarchy. To begin with the setting, which becomes much more interesting with one simple fix: going outside the house and to the streets. By giving the audience a look at how a variety of people caught outside when the Purge begins survive the variety of colorful characters purging, the film offers a more enticing look at the social psychology behind its concept. As it is set in Los Angeles, Anarchy attempts to inject some more interesting perspectives for its main characters. From waitress Eva Sanchez (Carmen Ejogo) and daughter Cali (Zoë Soul) showing us what it’s like to survive the Purge in the Projects to Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) as a likeable Purger with a tragic past, writer-director James DeMonaco makes the five main characters who survive together (surprisingly) more three-dimensional and compelling than anyone from the first film. And unlike the rich white people that The Purge focused on, the main characters of Anarchy are lower-middle class and/or working poor and thus are far more sympathetic targets of the devilish socioeconomic goals underlying Purge Night. And by making these characters the focus of the story, DeMonaco is able to inject some more meaningful social commentary about class disparities into the film without inherently exploiting these groups for pure entertainment. Instead, the cartoonish nature of Anarchy comes out in the third act with the scene of rich people bidding on poor people to purge in an auction-style gala. Not only does this make the primary characters’ fight to survive all the more engaging, but by making the rich and powerful the true villains the audience has someone to root for that is not a part of the problem (unlike the Sandins from the first film). Besides the characters and social commentary, Anarchy also (in my humble opinion) has a better script with smarter plot decisions. DeMonaco’s screenplay is great at distracting the audience to the point that we forget about certain people involved in the story. First, when Barnes helps Eva, Cali and the others escape Eva’s friend’s apartment to evade capture by “Big Daddy” (Jack Conley) and his paramilitary goons. By this point in the film, we have forgotten about the fact that the “Ghouls,” led by Lakeith Stanfield, are still tailing them and so when Barnes and the rest are captured by the “Ghouls” it is genuinely surprising without contradicting the plot. Furthermore, once Barnes, Eva and Cali successfully evade the rich-people auction with the help of Carmelo Johns (Michael K. Williams) and Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge), the leaders of an anti-Purge resistance movement, we have forgotten about “Big Daddy” chasing Barnes down. So, once Barnes visits the home of the man that killed his son in a drunk-driving accident to kill him and decides not to, Barnes getting shot and nearly killed by “Big Daddy” comes out of nowhere while simultaneously feeling deserved. Overall, Anarchy is a solid follow-up to and improvement over its predecessor that kicks up the tension, action, and character-driven melodrama and thus makes for a more-than-entertaining form of escapism. Without question, this is the film to start with in The Purge franchise. The Purge: Election Year (2016) I vividly remember seeing The Purge: Election Year in theaters (unfortunately due it happening close to a not-so-great event in my life), and being utterly engrossed and riveted from start to finish. In my humble opinion, there is a lot to like about this film even if you are not a fan of the first two films in the franchise. First and foremost, Election Year loses all desire to approach the issues it is addressing with subtext. Unlike Anarchy, which is (slightly) more subtle in its social commentary regarding wealth inequality and systemic racism, this film rids itself of any attempt at being anything but flat-out obvious, in-your-face satirical. Ultimately, this move shows the true potential of The Purge franchise because these movies should be anything but subtle and delicate in its critique of modern American society. Thus, Election Year embraces the cheesy nature of this franchise’s concept to put all of America’s demons front and center by personifying them in the form of sociopathic, corrupt government officials and psychopathic adolescent girls with guns and a passionate hatred for authority figures. All in all, Election Year works quite well as a horror satire if one accepts its honest approach to cinematic storytelling. Furthermore, this movie takes full advantage of its time of release by contextualizing its story within a pivotal presidential election between a pro-Purge loyalist of the “New Founding Fathers of America” (Kyle Secor) and an anti-Purge survivor of her family Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell). This opens up so many amazing storytelling possibilities for Election Year, from giving us everyday hero characters (including Frank Grillo who returns as Leo from Anarchy) to side with and protect Charlie on Purge Night to giving the NFFA government, led by President Warrens (Raymond J. Barry), a reason to remove immunity for top-level government officials in order to assassinate Charlie. Speaking of blatant social commentary, Election Year makes no bones about its attempt at racial undertones by making the crew of normal people that help Charlie and Leo survive (Mykelti Williamson, Joseph Julian Soria, Betty Gabriel, Liza Colón-Zayas) black and brown and―on the flip side of that―all the mercenaries and pro-Purge government a**holes hunting them white. Obvious and a bit tasteless? Perhaps, but I don’t care. It makes The Purge franchise feel like more than just a bunch of silly horror B-movies. Instead, they have something to say…even if how they say it isn’t always delicate. On top of all of that, Election Year retains all of the tense action, suspense, and thrills of its predecessor throughout Charlie and Leo’s fight to survive while on the run from mercenaries. And while Anarchy had some great hammy villains in the form of the “ghouls” and “Big Daddy,” Election Year takes it up a notch with its colorful cast of Purgers and government goons. My particular favorites are Kimmy, or “Candy Girl” (Brittany Mirabilé), and her armed-to-the-teeth friends who attack Charlie, Leo and their group. I also laughed out loud during the brief, but upstanding, scene of the “murder tourists” who came from overseas just to purge while wearing Uncle Sam, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington masks. So, is Election Year one of the greatest films of all time? Of course not. But it is undeniably one of the best of The Purge franchise. 😊 The First Purge (2018) People tend to find prequels redundant and superfluous by their very nature. To tell a story about characters and events that we already know the outcomes to tends to not be very interesting. However, I think franchise creator James DeMonaco made a very smart choice to make the first film after The Purge: Election Year a prequel to explain just how this concept became not only a reality in our 21st-century society but also acceptable to most Americans. I think what I appreciate most about 2018’s The First Purge is what it does in this vein. The film explores how, in the midst of rising crime, poverty, and unemployment rates, the people would turn to an outsider political force―the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA)―who promises to make society better by allowing people a psychological release or catharsis. Maybe this idea seemed unrealistic back in 2013 when the first film in The Purge franchise came out, but eight years later given the political atmosphere of the last several years I think moviegoers need not suspend their disbelief as much now. In addition to what this film does regarding grounding the birth of “the Purge” in a not-too-unfamiliar, alternate, dystopian future, it shows how people in this fictional universe may be convinced that “the Purge” experiment would be beneficial to society. Specifically, it makes sense that a political party like the NFFA would dress up the experiment to make it more presentable to the American public: offering stipends to those who volunteer to participate, evaluating participants’ mental state to ensure they are “healthy” prospects for purging, and introducing “the Architect” behind the experiment Dr. May Updale (Marisa Tomei). This pseudo-scientific guise allows both the mainstream society of the movie as well as the audience watching the film to buy that such a social-experiment-turned-government-sanctioned slaughter could―and maybe even would―be endorsed by people in modern-day America. Ultimately, the important world-building done here is surrounding the construction of the ideology of the NFFA exemplified by the party’s chief of staff (Patch Darragh). Essentially, the NFFA can be boiled down to a satirical take on what would happen if right-wing conservatism in America evolved to the point wherein many of its followers and perpetrators would wholeheartedly believe in the virtues of an annual, twelve-hour period of legalized crime and violence as a method of downsizing the “bottom of the totem pole,” so to speak. Again, this concept and the world-building surrounding it MUST be understood as a satire of current American politics in order to be fully enjoyed and appreciated. Otherwise, you may simply view it as a sloppy, tasteless B-movie that exploits real-world socioeconomic and racial tensions to make money at the box office. But, I promise you The First Purge (and, to varying degrees, all of The Purge movies) have a point. What about The First Purge as an action horror movie? Yes, it excels in that realm as well. There are plenty of jump scares (both genuine and fake-out ones), high-tensions chase scenes with characters stalking other characters, and explosive, high-octane fight scenes with plenty of gunplay, blood, and gore. And the main characters―notably the heroic drug dealer Dmitri (Y’lan Noel) and his ex-girlfriend and anti-Purge protestor Nya (Lex Scott Davis) ―have some pretty badass hero moments. So, if you’re looking for just mindless entertainment, you can even appreciate this film on that level, too. So, is The First Purge the best of the franchise? For me, I enjoy the consistently over-the-tope nature of Election Year more. However, I appreciate this film’s place in the grander franchise in terms of how effectively it grounds the wacky concept of “the Purge” in our world. So, it remains in high esteem for me at the end of the day. The Forever Purge (2021) I was hopeful that The Forever Purge would continue this franchise’s streak of being over-the-top, ridiculous, on-the-nose political commentary while also retaining a certain level of adequateness in terms of its filmmaking fundamentals. To be honest, I was mostly pleased. First, to dissect the premise that James DeMonaco establishes within the first ten minutes of the movie: the NFFA has been re-elected due to increased Mexican immigration that has made people fearful of spikes in crime repeating themselves, and thus the Purge has been reinstated. I was wondering how the story would continue with the elimination of the Purge in Election Year. Maybe DeMonaco would inject a terrorist organization that took advantage of the anniversary of the Purge’s end to instill fear into the hearts of Americans, and this could emphasize themes such as social paranoia and hysteria in a way that the other films have only hinted at. Unfortunately, DeMonaco’s explanation for how the Purge has returned was a bit uninspired. While I appreciate him bringing elements of the American political zeitgeist into his cinematic universe, I was hoping for a cleverer answer to what happens in a post-Purge America. It certainly didn’t ruin The Forever Purge for me, but it was the first sing that this movie would not be as engaging or enjoyable as its handful of predecessors. Second, the narrative structure. While the twist of the main characters surviving Purge night was refreshing and made for some interesting possibilities going forward, the build up to it was not very compelling. In order to make such a subversion of expectations effective, the movie needed to really make the audience believe that the movie was going to be about the Purge as with the previous four entries in the franchise. I just never did; perhaps I’m getting too smart and cynical for these movies. Or maybe the trailers just revealed too much. Either way, this first-act tee-up lacked the punch I felt that it should’ve had. Once The Forever Purge gets going in the second act, it shines the brightest. The action set pieces between our group of survivors, led by migrant ranch hand Juan (Tenoch Huerta) and rancher Dylan Tucker (Josh Lucas), and the “Ever After” Purgers are some solidly put-together scenes. Just watching lawlessness unfold in a post-Purge world is fun to see in contrast with the “controlled chaos” of Purge night itself. Which leads into what is easily the best part of the movie: its climax. For once Juan, Dylan and company arrive at El Paso, they are forced to sneak through the ablaze city streets in the midst of a war between Purgers and the NFFA military before being transported to the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of tribal leader Chiago (Zahn McClarnon). All of this leads into a solid climactic shootout between the overtly racist/nativist “Ever After” Purgers, led by the psychotic “Alpha” (Jeffrey Doornbros), and the survivors who team up to defend the indigenous land, and buy their fleeing family some time, with bows, arrows, and lassos. It was such a fun way to bring the central conflict to a head that had some creative kills and emotionally satisfying moments for Juan and his girlfriend/paramilitary badass Adela (Ana de la Reguera). Needless to say, The Forever Purge only got better as it went on which is only a good sign for any film. And while it had some storytelling drawbacks and a slow-burn first act, its action sequences and commitment to the franchise’s spirited roots makes it a serviceable fifth entry in the series while also making me (cautiously) optimistic about a possible sixth film. Do I still love The Purge films? Perhaps love is a strong word overall, but I do appreciate what these films have tried (and sometimes succeeded) to do in balancing enticing suspense-horror, kinetic action, and blunt but relevant social commentary. In my humble opinion, only one of these five movies can be considered straight-up “bad” while the other four offer their own distinct take on this outlandish dystopian concept full of incredibly fun and exciting cinematic potential. And while I am excited for this franchise to continue, I will certainly check my expectations at the door when (or if) that time comes. With all that being said, below is my ranking of the five films in The Purge franchise:
What do you think about The Purge franchise? What are some other underappreciated horror films that are worth watching? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst DISCLAIMER: This blog post was edited on 10/18/2021.
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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