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The First Purge
Rating: A
As the 4th of July gets closer it is time once again for a new Purge film. This year we take things back to the very beginning with the new film The First Purge. This movie shows us the events leading up to the very first purge experiment which will set the stage for the purge being used as a nation-wide event. As America is slowing falling into chaos and corruption the New Founding Fathers propose an experiment that will allow citizens to release all their hate and anger one night only on Staten Island and allow crime to legal for 12 straight hours. Chosen for its high crime and "demographic", the NFF is hopeful that this experiment will give them a chance to expand the purge to the rest of the country. So how does this film compare to its predecessors? Let's take a look.
The film primary follows a couple different people, Dmitri (Y'Lan Noel) who is a well-established drug dealer/gangster, Nya (Lex Scott Davis) who is one of the many activists fighting against the idea of the purge while struggling to support her brother Isaiah, and Isaiah himself (Joivan Wade) who tries to help his sister support their family, but going about it in all the wrong ways. When The New Founding Fathers bring this experiment to their front door it is received with mixed reactions. Like most experiments, there is monetary compensation for those who decide to stay on the island and higher forms of compensation for those who actively participate in the purge. Most people are just trying to keep their loved ones safe and protected as the poorer masses flock to the chance at what many thinks will be easy money. The Purge is, of course, anything but easy. As the experiment goes underway and the violence starts to kick itself up a notch, many soon realize what a terrible idea this is from the start.
This film is easily the best in the entire Purge series. It is well put together, acted, and throughout. It isn't relying on the typical cheesy jump scares or gore like other films. It plays on your anxiety and emotions to keep you pulled into the story and this story is a good one. While the original film was an interesting concept, it left many wondering what would it take to lead a country down a road where this was the last resort to keep us from imploding on ourselves and this film answers that question perfectly. We get a good look at a corrupt government using fear and false information to get the masses to follow this will. it is easier to get the American people to just kill each other than it is to fix a broken and corrupt system. The casting in the film really is well done and brings such a realness to these characters. They don't come off campy or silly and you genuinely are rooting for most of them to make it through the night. Y'Lan Noel is a freakin beast int he film and he is awesome. Rotimi Paul who plays a homeless and mentally unstable man who goes by the name of Skeletor is incredibly creepy.
There was a lot of things about this movie that was good and entertaining. I definitely feel like Hollywood was holding up a mirror to America in some parts of this film, using it almost as a warning. There was also some subtle jabs at our Commander in Chief when a sewer troll almost drags Nya into the sewer and grabs at her p*ssy. Okay, so maybe the comparisons aren't so subtle? Either way, this movie is hands down the best in the series. We scored it with a solid A rating. As far as Action/Horror goes you would be hard-pressed to find another film as well made and written as this one. So don't listen to the people who are rolling their eyes at the idea of another purge film. This one is worth checking out.
You definitely do not want to miss The First Purge hitting theaters everywhere this July 4th.