note: this review was written on July 2, 2021.
In ‘The Forever Purge’, America has entered the darkest timeline. In the year 2048 (eight years after 'Election Year'), The NFFA have been voted back into power ( with a scary new logo to boot). The first thing they do is reinstate The Purge. What the NFFA doesn’t realize is that their creation and their base have spiraled dangerously out of control. After the most recent Purge, some rise up and attempt a violent overthrow of the Govt, wanting The Purge to never end.
We follow Adela (Ana de la Reguera) and Juan ( Tenoch Huerta), a kind couple living in Texas who also happen to be illegal immigrants. They work on a ranch owned by Caleb Tucker (Will Patton), a sympathetic and wise old man. Caleb’s son, Dylan (Josh Lucas), doesn’t approve of Juan and this causes some tension between families. When The Forever Purgers strike, Juan, Dylan, Adela, Caleb, and Emma Kate (Dylan’s heavily pregnant wife played by Cassidy) will have to band together and make a run for the temporarily opened Mexico border (Canada has also temporarily opened their border).
The Forever Purge is the ballsiest installment in the franchise yet. It opens on Adela and Juan’s dangerous illegal trek across the border. There’s also a terrifying and creative animated opening credits sequence that fills in what happened in between ‘Election Year’ and now.
The film is brutal, violent, aggressive, intense, and mean (all of these certainly more-so than previous installments). It also has quite a few thoughts about America today and the dangers of where we may be headed. Some of it’s dialogue is sharp, blunt, and direct ( you could also say too on-the-nose) and some of it’s effects aren’t great. That said, this is the best a Purge film has ever looked (and sounded. The score is the best of the series).
The Forever Purge is stylistic as hell, and feels very different from your normal Purge outing. This fifth go-round benefits from a more southern/country aesthetic. It’s close to looking and feeling like a neo-western. Also, in The Forever Purge we don’t get a central antagonist. The villain this time around is all of The Forever Purgers ( and there are many of them). It’s a nice, subtle change.
Most of our characters are likable ( even Josh Lucas’ racist, who softens by the end), with the stand-outs being Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta as Adela and Juan. Juan is a gentle, empathetic ranch hand who is struggling to improve his English. Adela used to fight the cartels, and now works in a factory. She believes greatly in America and is an optimist. Both actors work off of each other well, and they share a good deal of chemistry. You buy them as a couple and they are sweet together. Gregory Zaragoza pops in sporadically as Xavier, head of a Native American tribe horrified by what has become of America. He makes for a memorable character and Zaragoza’s performance is very good.
This outing does a lot right while still falling into the same old tropes of The Purge franchise. The characters aren’t fully fleshed out, the script isn’t the greatest, it still veers into camp occasionally (not a bad thing imo), there’s a good deal of bad jump scares, some of the proceedings border on feeling exploitative, and the film still takes time to revel in some of the chaos.
James DeMonaco ( director of the first 3 films, writer of every one) wrote this outing, and it shows. He’s never been the strongest writer, but his ideas tend to be very interesting ( He definitely seems to have his finger on the pulse of what’s going on in America right now). Everardo Gout directs and he brings an intense energy to most of the proceedings.
In the end, despite a lot of cynicism about the road America may be headed down, The Forever Purge still ends on an oddly hopeful note (which is nice). When all is said and done, The Forever Purge is far from a bad film. It’s actually the best of the franchise. The action is thrilling and intense, it’s messages are incredibly pertinent, and the whole thing feels very of-the-now. This franchise continues to remain a shamelessly, aggressively political one and this installment is the most divisive yet (this one is unafraid of pissing off alt-righters). That said, it’s flawed in the way the other Purge films are flawed. Luckily, the great parts outweigh the not-so-great ones.
The Forever Purge is another (maybe the last? Wouldn’t be the worst thing) successful installment in the controversial and divisive Purge franchise. Purge fans should be pleased. It’s the 4th of July weekend, so I say why not go Purge? It’s an American tradition, after all.
4 STARS
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