Movie franchises don’t usually blow up their entire landscape unless those behind it are making a point. That is firmly the case with The Forever Purge. The Purge landed in 2013 and had the most intriguing of premises: One night a year, all crime is legal and emergency services are not available. The idea was put forth by the New Founding Fathers, as they are called, as a way of cutting back on crime year-round. If everyone got their murder on for one night a year, the other 364 days, well then… all would be good boys and girls.
The Purge: Anarchy followed in 2014, with The Purge: Election Year in 2016, and then the The First Purge took us back to the beginning in 2018. Each had their own merits, but they shared one thing in common—filmmakers used The Purge as a metaphor for a number of societal ills in our real world to varying success.
The thing about The Forever Purge is it envisions an America where certain segments of the population have decided that one night is not enough. In fact, the idea of The Purge has been hijacked so that a “cleansing of America” can take place in the days following the official Purge. This is not simply a Purge anymore. This is a revolution fueled by racism and ignorance.
If anyone has paid attention to the headlines these last four years, what lies at the heart of The Forever Purge’s story plays out like a dream for followers of a certain ex-President who said that protesters and Nazis had “good people on both sides.” Rarely has a Purge movie been so pointed, and let’s be honest—they’re all pretty direct in terms of their modus operandi.
An underground movement, dissatisfied with “illegal” immigrants and the melting pot that has always been America, has decided that purging of this country truly will begin at daybreak the morning after this year’s Purge. Nowhere, it seems, is safe. No one, it appears, can find security—regardless of wealth. It’s a free-for-all and at the center of it is Josh Lucas’ Dylan Tucker and his family, as well as married immigrants Adela (Ana de la Reguera) and Juan (Tenoch Huerta). The latter works for the Tuckers as a ranch hand/cowboy and is quite good at his job. This puts him firmly in the crosshairs of the ire of Dylan, who begins our journey as someone who passionately believes in America First.
In a plot narrative that one can see a mile away, something tells me that Dylan is going to learn a lesson or two over the course of this harrowing time and that when guns and blades are pointed at you, it doesn’t matter who you are—to the Forever Purgers, you’re either with us or against us. Period. It certainly reflects the sentiment of some on the right who see things in black and white and nothing in grey.
Lucas possesses such a likeable persona, it’s hard to see him portray someone who doesn’t see people as equal (at first). That’s a credit to his talent that he pulls it off so believably. Tackling the role of Dylan has the potential to impact even one person who witnesses this film means the actor excelled at his job. The target of his indignation, Juan and his onscreen wife Adela, could not have been better cast with de la Reguera and Huerta, respectively. They are truly the heart of this picture and their performances lie at the key to that.
Franchise creator and Purge story mastermind James DeMonaco penned the script. Nobody knows this world he created more than DeMonaco and who better to send a seismic shockwave throughout it as he has with the latest.
Words matter. We hear that all the time. So, when the leader of the free world reports that there are “good people on both sides” when one of those sides sees a landscape that is as completely whitewashed, these folks know they have an ally in the White House.
Although administrations have changed, a Purge movie has never been so timely and reflective of the real world we live in. It’s harrowing to think about, and not something some folks would want or expect from a piece of entertainment. But making a point about anything culturally or politically has always been made easier via the vessel that is being entertained. All of The Purge movies have aspired to do that, but only what may be the last one, The Forever Purge, achieves it so piercingly.
Grade: B