The Purge: Election Year

Dir: James DeMonaco

2016

***

The original Purge was a horror/thriller like no other. It tapped into a modern political fear, the rise of the far-right and the unthinkable that doesn’t feel like it could be impossible. To find societies deep subconscious fears is a must for any horror film maker of worth and when an idea strikes a chord, it is worth pursuing further. Now this has generally not been the case with other great horror films, indeed, nearly every great horror film is followed by a terrible sequel, and then at least seven others before it is remade (‘re-envisioned’) and seven sequels made of the remake. The Purge looks like it is going down that path and the second film, while still enjoyable, didn’t live up to the original. The Purge: Election Year however remembers all of the tricks of the first and what made it the success it was. By releasing the film during an Election year, one where a far-right candidate with controversial policies was all the world was talking about, the producers managed one of the smartest promotional campaigns in recent years. There was absolutely no mention of Trump of course, he obviously wasn’t yet in power, but you know it was on their minds. It was also the logical progression of the series, as the first film looked at the situation from the side of the rich and the second looked at the purge from the side of the poor. The political angle of the Purge was a balance between the two and also looked at the agendas of the right and left wing political parties. The film begins brutally as we see young Charlene Roan and her family as they are tied up by a masked purger. He taunts them with his purge playlist, and then tells them they will play a final purge game called ‘Mommy's Choice’, where the mother chooses which person in the family will get to live while everyone else dies. Charlie is chosen and forced to watch as her mother, father, brother, and sister are killed. Eighteen years later, Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is a U.S. Senator campaigning for the U.S. Presidency, promising executive action to end the annual purge nights. Former police sergeant Leo Barnes is now head of security for Roan. The New Founding Fathers of America's (NFFA) and their candidate, Minister Edwidge Owens (Kyle Secor), view Roan as a threat; under the pretense of regaining public trust, they revoke immunity for government officials, including her, on Purge night. Watching the presidential debate are deli owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson), his assistant Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria), and former purger turned EMT Laney Rucker (Betty Gabriel). A pair of teenage girls try to shoplift, only to be cornered by Joe. The girls mock Joe until Laney intervenes; recognizing her as a famous ex-Purger, they leave peacefully. Joe receives a call stating the cost of his purge insurance has been raised beyond affordability, prompting him to guard his store himself, despite Marcos and Laney's pleas not to. At the same time, the country's so-called "Murder tourism" booms the economy due to tourists visiting the U.S. to participate in the annual Purge nights. As the purge begins, Joe guards his store and is joined by Marcos, repelling an attack by the teen girls seeking revenge. Laney and her partner Dawn patrol the city in an ambulance, providing medical care to the wounded. Roan decides to wait out the purge from her home rather than a secure location to secure the vote, and is accompanied by Couper, Eric and Barnes, played by the returning Frank Grillo who is now a bodyguard rather than a police officer, as well as additional security forces. However, Couper and Eric are NFFA spies who allow a neo-Nazi paramilitary force led by Earl Danzinger to kill the guards and invade the house. Barnes escorts Roan to safety through an escape route only he knows about, but is wounded by a bullet on the way out. Once safe, he detonates a bomb in the house, killing Eric and Couper in the process. Navigating the hostile streets of Washington D.C., Barnes and Roan attempt to seek shelter, but are ambushed by a gang of Murder Tourists. Before they can be executed, Joe and Marcos kill the gang, having seen the pair's plight from the store's rooftop. As they take shelter in the store, the teens return with reinforcements. However, Laney runs over two of them and kills half the group. As the other Purgers threaten to break in, they leave for a safer hideout. The team is ambushed by Danzinger in a helicopter, and seeks refuge beneath an overpass wherein Barnes realizes they were tracked by the bullet in his shoulder, which he promptly removes. After a confrontation with a large number of Crips, the team helps their leader's injured comrade. In return, the Crips plant the bullet in another area to divert the paramilitary team; when the gunmen arrive, the Crips eliminate them. The team arrives at an underground anti-purge hideout run by Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge). During their stay, Barnes and Roan discover that Bishop's group intends to assassinate the NFFA, in an effort to end the purge. As Roan pleads to Bishop's partner, Angel, not to kill Owens, they are alerted by Dawn of a large paramilitary group arriving in search of Bishop and Roan. Barnes and Roan escape back to the streets and reunite with Joe, Marcos, and Laney, who had left the hideout earlier to return to Joe's store. Barnes orders to flee from the city but on their way, the ambulance is hit by Danzinger's team. Roan is pulled from the van by the soldiers before anyone can assist. Barnes leads the group and Bishop's team to a fortified cathedral where the NFFA will "sacrifice" her. Before Roan can be killed, the group arrives and assassinates Warrens, causing a shootout that kills the entire congregation except Owens and another NFFA loyalist, Harmon James, who escape. Owens is caught by Bishop's group, but Roan manages to persuade them to spare him. The remaining paramilitary forces arrive, killing Bishop and his team. Danzinger and Barnes engage in a melee which ends with the former's death. As Roan and the team free the imprisoned purge victims, James emerges and kills a released prisoner. Joe shoots and kills him, but is fatally wounded. Before dying, Joe asks Marcos to take care of his store. Two months later, Roan wins the election in a landslide, while Barnes is appointed the new Director of the Secret Service. Marcos and Laney renovate Joe's store, which had been looted and demolished by the surviving half of the teens' group, and continue to run it in his memory. A news report then states that NFFA supporters have staged violent uprisings across the country in response to election results and the end of the annual purge nights. While I liked the original political content, it becomes muddled towards the end. I think a film in the vein of Shin Godzilla would have been better, where we’d see far more of the political aspect of the story, with the purge itself taking second place. I guess that’s not what the fans want though. It’s a strange one really. The Purge is something we should all be reviled by but we’re watching these violent films all the same as entertainment. The films ethics are also flawed, as those who are against the Purge are happy for purging to take place to suit their own agenda – even though they criticize others for doing the same. The idea is far better than the outcome. I do wonder whether the film would be different or would even have been made following the incidents at Charlottesville and across the US. Maybe it is best that such a film doesn’t get so close to the bone, I don’t know, but I do feel like a good idea wasn’t used as well as it could have been and has now been almost diluted and rendered obsolete due to the horrific reality of actual events. I can see the Purge films being studied in film and sociology classes in years to come.