2016

I couldn’t NOT watch this move this year. It is scarily close to reality, which what makes it so terrifying. The time leading up to any presidential election can be a tense, divided time in American history, but this movie almost solidifies the feelings people have this year. In the film, there are two very divided groups: one who thinks the legalization of crime for one day a year should remain; and the other who think it is a reason for insurance companies to line their pockets and is basically sanctified genocide of the poor and inner-city residents.

If you haven’t seen any of the Purge movies, the concept is fairly dark. In order to bring back economic stability to a country (not MY America) that suffered from a crippling depression, a group of “New Founding Fathers” (read: old rich white men) designate one day a year (the vernal equinox) to be a night free of legal liability for all crimes that would be prosecuted any other time of the year. These crimes include, but not limited to: rape, burglary, vandalism, murder, attempted murder, torture, mask wearing when it isn’t Halloween, fireworks, and drones. If you are rich or an elected official, you are normally safe because you can pay for protection. I’m not sure if this means ALL elected officials like the coroner and dog catcher, but I assume that if you are a white man, you’re good to go. Just like in any society, real or imagined.

This is the third installment of the franchise and features a character from the 2nd Purge film, Leo Barnes, who has decided to turn his life around since the last purge and be head security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell). The senator is running for president on the platform of eliminating the purges. Now obviously for the “New Founding Fathers ” and psychopaths in the country (which are not mutually exclusive), this ruffles some feathers. The senator poses a threat to both their pockets and their excuse to get off on torture and murder and mask wearing.

So of course in order to send a message to those hippies who want to stop tripping over bodies on March 22, the “New Founding Fathers” put out a hit on the Senator, making sure to infiltrate her security detail. Leo Barnes (who gives off some serious “Punisher” vibes) doesn’t want to see his only chance of non-murdering society to be taken away. He is the Senator’s only ally at first. Then along with a convenience store owner and his staff, they all vow to protect Senator Roan until the purge is over. Obviously, danger and shooting and bombings ensue, as a manhunt through the city of Washington DC intensifies.

Although the genre of this movie is more thriller than horror, it touches on some truly terrifying human behavior. The massive fear of a group allows for unreasonable and dangerous laws to be put in place without much objection. It touches on the fact that perfectly normal-looking humans are capable of horrendous things when there are no consequences. Also, Germans are never to be trusted. Maybe plan to watch this movie on November 7, and remember how many of your congressmen and senators and dog catchers could conceivably be put in the “New Founding Fathers” cos-play voting bloc.