Film Review - The First Purge (15)

There's something wrong with the world - isn't there, Nya?

I hadn't seen any of the Purge movies when this new chapter exploded in UK cinemas, and didn't want to be watching it in a vacuum - so I bought the trilogy box-set and binged on them over the weekend in preparation (a Purge splurge if you will). Good thing I did, because context is everything here. The First Purge may be a prequel, but it serves as a logical extension of the dark world established in the previous films and of that world's nasty dystopian politics. It's also brutal, exploitative and utterly compelling - not least because of the fractured mirror it holds up to modern America.

To set the scene - the Purge franchise envisages a near-future US governed by the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA), a political party which has instated an annual 'purge' night; during this twelve hour period all crimes including murder become legal. It's a purported national catharsis, aiming to cleanse the population of primal urges and bring down the overall crime rate. As the multi-chapter story develops, however, the truth becomes steadily more apparent - the true function of the Purge is to cull America's underclass, with minority communities suffering the brunt of the ensuing violence. 

The First Purge brings us back to the beginnings of this grim societal experiment, with the residents of New York's Staten Island acting as guinea-pigs. Paid to stay on the island (more if they actively take part), they are monitored by Purge 'architect' Dr Updale (Marisa Tomei) and her political associates, as the inaugural  night of anarchy kicks off. Among those on the ground are community activist Nya (Lex Scott Davis), her kid brother-with-a-grudge Isaiah (Jovian Wade) and her one-time lover now turned local drug lord Dimitri (Y'lan Noel). All threaten to be consumed by a night that the NFFA is determined to inflame in pursuit of its screwed-up agenda.

The remarkable thing about the Purge films is how they manage to suspend our disbelief over this ludicrous dystopian premise, while incorporating genuinely sharp and ever-increasing political bite. The 2013 starter-movie was a creepy home invasion story with white-collar protagonists, but its successors have been resolutely street-level, following the efforts of those too economically strapped make it easily through the night. The First Purge doubles down on urban grit, immersing us in a socially embattled black community on Staten Island, as our handful of protagonists negotiate the potentially violent proceedings. James DeMonaco remains as the overall project's sole writer, so the DNA of the other movies is written all through this. (The sense of menace and foreboding seems to build with each new movie.) He's relinquished directing duties to Gerard McMurray, however, and the result is a punchier, more guerrilla feel than ever before. 

The characters as usual are sketched (it's all about the forward-hurtling plot in these films), but they're played with ferocity by the largely unknown leads. The result is that we root for Nya and her hapless man-child brother (Wade is chiefly known in the UK for turns in Eastenders and Doctor Who), and even hold out hope that drug baron Dimitri will undergo a Purge-style redemption story-arc. Humour is thankfully present, courtesy of Nya's straight-talking friend Dolores (Orange is the New Black actress Mugga), while Rotimi Paul is truly chilling as a drug-fuelled psychopath known as Skeleton - the movies' most grotesque character to date. But the real villains here are all about power, privilege and - in a shockingly in-your-face kind of way - race.

If the original Purge movie hinted at the underlying politics, this one boldly spells it out. Nor is it shy about bluntly critiquing Trump-era America this time around - streets awash with firearms, pot-shots at the National Rifle Association and solidarity with an impoverished black community on the sharp end of governmental manipulation. By no means is this the cunning social satire of Get Out or TV's Black Mirror - it's too broad and bullet-riddled for that. But in its own way The First Purge packs one hell of a timely punch.

Gut Reaction: I probably shouldn't be, but I'm riveted by these adrenalin-pumping scary movies. This one had me physically contorted from the tension.

Where Are the Women?: With a string of films where all protagonists are potential victims, it's good to see tough women in each who refuse to be.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. There's an irresolvable conflict in a story that condemns gun violence while providing a gun-based thrill-ride, - I get that. But something in me loves these grimy, hard-edged morality tales nonetheless. They're barmy, but in in among the madness is an unsettling degree of truth.