The Forever Purge

This world have gone insane, and a perfect example of that is on January 6 this year, Trump supporters stormed into the U.S. Capital, believeing that the election was not done correctly. As most of us know by now, all these conspiracy theories that have been layed out, turned out to be no real evidence. There were no hacking into the voting system that radio host Steve Bannon believe in, Mike Lindell CEO of My Pillow was not attacked by a ninja at his hotel during the Cyber Symposium week, and Majorie Taylor Greene compared wearing masks to the holocaust in Germany. All of this is completely insane, and it just shows what kind of people we are talking about. If anyone would actually take these people seriously, and believe everything they say, we have a big problem. Most of us want a society that works, where your family can feel safe, and children can learn to develope themselves into a brighter future. But what if government decided that it is time to clean up the streets, and let anyone kill innocent people, just to show that in America, you have the freedom to do what you want, especially on one specific day called The Purge. And that is exactly what we got to experience, in the 2013 dystopian action horror film called The Purge. Directed by James DeMonaco ( who have directed 3 of the Purge franchise films ), this film tells the story of The Sandin Family, where dad James Sandin ( Ethan Hawke ) returns to his home where his wife Mary Sandin ( Lena Headey ), their children Charlie Sandin ( Max Burkholder ) and Zoey Sandin ( Adelaide Kane ) are waiting for the Purge to end outside, as they believe they should be safe until time runs out. Unfortunately, not even their neighborhood is safe. The Purge turned out to bring out a very interesting idea, that if you could do whatever you want one day, and kill anyone you want within a certain amount of time, would you do it? This franchise continued making more films, and the sequels have actually been pretty good ( the second one is my favourite ), so here we are with the 5th film called The Forever Purge. I did like the trailer for The Forever Purge, and i was actually excited to check this film out, since i enjoy the films in the franchise so far. Is this the best of the sequels so far, or is The Forever Purge unfortunately the worst film in this franchise?

in 2048, eight years after Charlene Roan´s presidential election, the New Founding Fathers of America ( NFFA ), have regained control of the U.S. government and have re-instituted the annual Purge with its original rules. Racial supremacy and nativism have surged nationwide following the re-election, and many are concerned that the upcoming Purge will inflict more damage to the country than the NFFA realizes. Married migrant couple Juan ( Tenoch Huerta ) and Adela ( Ana de la Reguera ) illegaly cross the border into Texas to escape from a Mexican drug cartel, and build a new life. Juan manage to get a job as a farmhand on Tucker family ranch, while Adela manage to get a job near Austin. 10 months later, the annual Purge is about to begin. But Adele notice that something have changed with the Purge, as a nationalist Purger group, who calls themselves Pure Purification Group ( PPF ), intend to kill those who are not originally from America. But there is also a rule that have been added, without informing civilians, that the Purge itself does not stop when time runs out. 

Considering that the previous Purge films have tried to bring up different political subjects, during the Purge day, this one does as well, but also manage to bring in a very important subject, immigration. Specifically on the border between America and Mexico, and this is actually a really good idea for a film like this. Since there are a lot of problems surrounding immigration worldwide, and if we are able to help anyone who is trying to escape poverty, in this case from Mexican cartels, this subject match well with the story surrounding The Forever Purge. Because this problem will always be around, how will we help immigrants in a safe way, to make sure they can get the help they need? The idea of the Purge happening at the border between 2 countries, helps this film feel more relevant to what reality looks like ( not talking about the Purge itself, but the immigration issues ). Can they become a part of society, or will ( real Americans ) never accept that they come from another country? You do get some racist characters in this film, who clearly see the Purge as a good oppurtinity to wipe out Mexicans because they don´t want them in their country. And this is actually the mentality of some Americans, even today in 2021. The acting in this film is perhaps not great from all the characters, but there are some expections. Especially from legendary actor Will Patton ( who can forget his performance in the 2002 supernatural horror film The Mothman Prophecies ) as the character Caleb Tucker. Actress Ana de la Reguera ( who you will recognize from the Netflix film Army Of The Dead ) does a great job with her character Adela. I will have to admit that i do like the idea, that in this film they decide to let the Purge go on, even if the time runs out. As if they feel the need to clean up the streets even more, and have no rule to follow. Interesting idea for a sequel, and it works for the most part. Even if The Forever Purge is not the best sequel in this franchise, i do feel that i enjoyed this film for taking a different turn than the previous films. It may not be as political effective as The Purge: Election Year, but it still manage to bring out some important political subjects. Director Everardo Gout ( who directed 6 episodes of the well made TV series Mars ) may not hit all the notes with this Purge sequel, but he does bring a sequel that has a lot to say about immigration, and show a different perspective in this franchise. If you are a Purge fan, you definetely want to check this film out. Excuse me folks, i will be heading off to try going on a Purge myself with my axe and shotgun, you are all welcome to join me ( i can´t guarantee you will make it out alive though ).

Rating: DDD