Film of the Week: The Purge: Election Year

The final film in the series goes bigger and better than the previous two instalments. The first film, The Purge, introduced the concept of the New Founding Fathers allowing all crimes, including murder, all across America for 12 hours once a year, and for the rest of the year, crime has decreased considerably, almost gone entirely. They explained this briefly, and then acted as if it works. A concept as huge as The Purge, and the effect it would have on the country, I felt the first film didn’t do it justice. We are introduced to the new country a few years after the first Purge, and focuses primarily on a family having to fend off a group of teenagers hell-bent on capturing a homeless man who the son let in much to the family’s protests.

Although the concept is huge, and the entire country is doing whatever they want for all the 12 hours, the film only focuses on this one family trapped in their own home, giving the audience the sense of claustrophobia and terror, showing that even the rich who has spent a large amount of money protecting and locking down their home, is affected and can’t run away from the purge. Despite what the intentions of the film were, I still felt as if it could have been so much more. We were essentially dumped into a new world, and told that it works. It doesn’t explore any other part of the country, and how it affects the rest, and my final decision was that I didn’t like the film as a whole.

The Purge: Anarchy tackles all my complaints that I had with the first film. It explores so much more than the previous, and made the first film make sense in the grand scheme of things. The first film focuses on the rich side of the Purge, and the second focuses on the poor side, and how it affects those less fortunate to protect themselves during the one night that everyone is equally looking forward to and dreading. It shows the true nature of the Purge, and just what can be done during that one night when anything’s possible. Strong violence throughout, terror, and anarchy, and surprisingly, redemption as well. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping that all characters would survive during some incredible situations

The third film explores another side of the Purge, and that’s how it affects politics. Two candidates running for president: One campaigning for the Purge to continue, and the other determined to put a stop to it once and for all. All the films have shown how it affects families and friends, but they don’t capture it as perfectly as this one, because it’s losing her entire family which ignites Charlene Roan’s drive to run for president in the hope of stopping the Purge. Charlene intends to stay in her office throughout the 12 hours, but it wouldn’t be a film if things went as planned, and soon they were on the run, fighting for their lives, and the audience is taken to even worse horrors than before. The Purge has become a staple within American’s culture, and has gained worldwide attention, so much so that people are coming from other countries to participate.

Three films, three different perspectives, but it’s the third film that has truly captured every aspect of people’s views. You have those that are passionate to stop the Purge, those that have accepted it is just something that happens once a year, and those that are eager and passionate about letting their demon run wild. No film has shown crime outside the Purge, contradicting the fact that it has decreased massively but hadn’t gone away completely. Even after so many years, crime committed outside the Purge is still present, as shown when those two girls are trying to steal a candy bar, and then – unfortunately predictable – return to take revenge on the shopkeeper who confronted them and was only doing his job. That has to be my main criticism. They only come back for a candy bar – however metaphorical their words were – almost felt a little over the top and unnecessary, but after all, that is why Charlene is campaigning to stop the Purge.

The Purge: Election Year has been noted to be the final film in the franchise, even though it did hint at a possible sequel at the very end, but personally, I don’t want a sequel. Instead, I wouldn’t mind seeing the very first year of the Purge, or going back even further showing the debates, expanding on the brief explanation given in the first movie, and the public’s diverse reactions. If they had started with the prequel before jumping ahead with the first film, I think it would have made a lot more sense, and bringing it around a full circle, as well as looking at the Purge from a different angle. Starting with politics by from the perspective of those that are for, then the rich, then the poor, and ending with politics again but from the perspective of those that are against.

Although the films have gained its fair share of negative to mixed reviews, it has spread across the internet, reaching many forums questioning the philosophy of the purge itself, whether it is a protest film pointing out the many flaws in the government, or just another horror film with a dystopian future where things got completely out of control. No video explains the details better than the one below.

The Philosophy of THE PURGE (with Rick and Morty!) – Wisecrack Edition (by Wisecrack)

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)