BEFORE: All right, lets finish off another franchise, then get back to the monsters and demons and ghosts. Or in other words, let's take a moment to deal with the social issues that divide our nation, then get back to the LESS scary stuff. Do the "Purge" movies technically count as horror movies? I'm not sure, they're really just action films with a political twist to them. But two years ago I watched all of them EXCEPT this one, which didn't connect to the others by actors, and that was my lead-in to October 1. Sort of horror movies, so I placed them tangentially to the horror chain, that seemed to make some sense.
This might be the last movie on my list that played at the AMC Village when I worked there, in the summer of 2021. (Talk about a horror story...). Seeing any movie that played on those 7 screens while I was there just reminds me of what a terrible job it was, and how I couldn't wait to get out of it. So it's been three years since I made the movie to another theater, and it's been - well, exhausting, but mostly positive. Better job, better pay, better co-workers, and the job is occasionally FUN, which I know a job doesn't have to be, so there's that. Plus sometimes there's a reception after an event and I can bring home extra food that's about to be thrown away, I've got a big bag of party cheese in my fridge right now, because I hate to see food go uneaten and wasted.
Ana de la Reguera carries over from "Army of Thieves".
FOLLOW-UP TO: "The Purge: Election Year" (Movie #4,256)
THE PLOT: All the rules are broken as a sect of lawless marauders decides that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end.
AFTER: I see the problem now, because this film DOES connect to some of the other "Purge" movies, via the voice of Cindy Robinson, who does the announcements that signal the start of the 12-hour purge period, however they did NOT use her voice in the "Election Year" installment, which was the last one I watched in 2022. Technically the most recent episode was "The First Purge", but chronologically it took place before all the others, so I watched it first., that's how my linking worked two years ago. But ending with "Election Year" meant I had to find a different path via Mykelti Willliamson, and thus I was unable to schedule "The Forever Purge" at that time. Clear?
"The Purge" films were apparently inspired by a Star Trek episode from 1967, called "The Return of the Archons", but I was willing to believe that someone just took a look at our political climate in the U.S. and just mentally advanced that a few years, much like George Orwell did with his book "1984", written in 1948. Orwell saw a future where the government had cameras everywhere, controlled people's lives and actions and by the real 1980's, people had pretty much believed that it all came true and he was nothing less than a visionary. Maybe he just projected his worst fears about humanity into a random year in the future, and got very lucky.
The U.S. depicted in "Forever Purge" is about clashing cultures, because of differences in race, religion and economic status. Also a country where a large influx of immigration has cause a further divide and after an economic collapse, the Purge is instituted to not only control over-population, but also cause an economic boom each year due to sales of weapons, ammo, security systems, etc. And it gets those wild, unlawful and undesirable people to run around causing mayhem, and maybe getting killed themselves, so really, no great loss there. And anyone who wants to abstain and live another year can just hunker down at home, or head out and hide in the desert for 12 hours, right? So great, the economy is saved, but at what cost? Just a few thousand extra deaths each year, but right there, another boon for the funeral business, if we really want to keep looking on the bright side.
But really, come on, some writer really nailed it. Fights over religion, immigration, inflation, whether the economy is solid or not, and with two political parties in an election year, there are really two Americas, and two futures lie ahead, we must be careful to pick the right one - but which one that is depends on who you ask. Every single issue can be viewed from two different angles - should abortion be legal everywhere or forbidden across the country? It's one or the other, there's no middle ground, extremist views only for some reason. Are immigrants good for America because they do the jobs middle class people don't want to do, and keep freight moving and crops picked? Or are they terrible for America because they're a drain on our social services and they don't pay taxes or contribute to Social Security? Again, no middle-ground arguments will be allowed, you HAVE to pick a side.
So while the whole "Purge" concept still seems a bit of a stretch, it's very easy to see the America portrayed here. The film is set in Texas, home of many Mexican immigrants, who all seem smart enough to know which way the wind is blowing, once the Purge is reinstated by the New Founding Fathers they take refuge together, because there's strength in numbers. But 12 hours later, when the Purge is over, they learn that a secret pact was made among the Purgers to NOT stop when they were supposed to. "Ever After" is the chant of the people who were having so much fun killing that they didn't want to stop - and they figure this is their chance to "purify" America and get rid of anyone who's an immigrant or who has a skin color they don't like. You can't even reason with these people by pointing out that we're ALL immigrants or the children of immigrants, only the Native Americans really have a right to claim the land, but immigrants took that from them.
Also at risk during the Forever Purge are anyone who employs immigrants, and that includes ranch-owners like the Tucker family. The Forever Purgers include some of the Tucker's employees, who apparently want the ranch for themselves, but really it's just an excuse to kill their bosses and take whatever they want, probably after a week of running the ranch they'll realize how much work it is and lose interest. But I guess some people have to learn their lessons the hard way.
After the Purgers insurrection, the news breaks that Canada and Mexico are willing to open their borders to any non-Purging Americans, which creates an odd situation where Latino immigrants are now trying to head back to Mexico for their own safety. The Tuckers and their immigrant employees hijack a truck and start heading for the border, however the Purgers also attack an army base near El Paso, so the border then shuts down early and people have to then find a different and much more ironic passage back to Mexico, though a Native American reservation.
For so many years, America was the destination for immigrants, we had that big statue in New York Harbor with a poem about "Give me your tired, your poor..." so the ultimate ironic situation presented here depicts Americans become refugees in Mexico and Canada. Remember back in 2016 when Trump got elected, and for a few months leading up to it, Americans were saying they'd leave the country and go live in Canada if Trump won? I don't think there was a massive migration, like I know two people who did move to Canada around that time but I'm not sure it was totally Trump-related. So the film ends with 2 million Americans crossing the Canadian and Mexican borders while the NFFA dispatches troops to stop the violence, but it's unclear whether that will be possible, even with the aid of civilians rallying to fight back against the Purgers. Perhaps another sequel is in the works to continue this story of the future past 2049.
Also starring Tenoch Huerta (last seen in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"), Josh Lucas (last seen in "The Weight of Water"), Leven Rambin (last seen in "The Dirt"), Cassidy Freeman, Alejandro Edda (last seen in "American Made"), Will Patton (last seen in "The November Man"), Will Brittain (last seen in "Kong: Skull Island"), Sammi Rotibi (last seen in "Once Upon a Time in Venice"), Zahn McClarnon (last seen in "Doctor Sleep"), Gary Nohealii (last seen in "Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire"), Gregory Zaragoza (last seen in "The Last of the Mohicans"), Brett Edwards (last seen in "American Sniper"), Carol Cantu, Keenan Henson (last seen in "The Bling Ring"), Kacey Montoya, Joshua Dov (last seen in "Steal This Movie"), Annie Little (last seen in "Argo"), Lupe Carranza, Willow Beuoy, Dylan Morales-Brodie, Yomary Cruz, Jeffrey Doornbos, Susie Abromeit (last seen in "Sex Drive"), Emily Trujilllo, LaSaundra Gibson (last seen in "Peppermint"), Patricio Doren, Marco Martinez, Veronica Falcon (last seen in "The Starling"), Edward Gelhaus (last seen in "Logan Lucky"), Hope Lauren, Coda Boesel, Alfonso Illan Sutton, Shaw Jones, Eagle "Kat" Smith, Erin Dinsmore, Richard Allan Jones, Mark Krenik (last seen in "Tenet"), Scott Douglas MacLachlan, Patrick Millin, Anthony Molinari (last seen in "Licorice Pizza"), Baker Wiles, Patrick Zapata and the voice of Cindy Robinson (last heard in "The Purge: Anarchy")
RATING: 5 out of 10 exploding arrows
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