Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews

Director Everardo Gout
Screenplay James DeMonaco
Starring Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda, Will Patton

What if, after the annual purge is over, the killing and crime did not stop? No doubt it would be due to the people least likely to use the internet to find a way to communicate their "purifying message" to all of their other bretheren that the time for revolution is now.

The Purge series of films, ever a product of sociological illogic, have become increasingly political as time has moved on. To the point where the last few films have been advertising campaigns for everything James DeMonaco might think is counter to his idea of what the typical Trump voter might engender. This time with a little reverse racism thrown in to make it seem balanced.

"Speak English!" shouts the racist.

"Does this translate?" is the reply as the good guy kills him.

The Forever Purge has a pair of differences from previous films. The first is the fact that it takes place on the border. The second is the brown people being targeted are largley “migrants” from Mexico. All of the border crossers in this case are kind and competent people just trying to escape the cartels. The coyotes are not abusive, but people who stay at the border, just to help their fellow citizens in transit.

The other difference, and this is supposed to be a big one, is that a sizeable contingent of mean Americans decide to extend the purge and its “purification” against the will of the new founding fathers. They spit in the face of the corporate overlords and fully commit to getting rid of those not like themselves.

The concept rings hollow, of course. Why would there be groups of oppressors who are white coordinating or collaborating with those being seemingly oppressed in order to oppress others from another race? Well in this case it is only to establish a unity between people of two races to overcome their differences and fight back.

Their are the typical scenes for this film as the others, even if it is atypically taking place in daylight. There are always couples who are split up. Someone always volunteers to go rescue someone they would not have associated with before. Then there is the heroes that arise from the “victim” class. We also have the curious looking outfits that are designed to give the Halloween stores some more masks to put on the shelves.

There is a pretty decent cadre of actors and actresses who are pursued by the no name baddies. They die in accordance to their age, and their spot on the cast list. The higher up, the less likely they will be the victim and more likely they will emerge victorious.

One of the funnier aspects of this flight of fancy is the concept that the US becomes the country to flee due to this collection of rednecks that emerge. Canada and Mexico open their borders for a whole 6 hours in order to take in refugees to locations that look better equipped than Biden’s cages at the border right now.

The problem with The Purge series came the moment the films moved away from the dystopia and more into the myopia of the Hollywood political scene. The violence is less suspensful and more a collection of interchangeable set pieces the primary actors go through on their path to somewhere else. The sense of foreboding is gone and in its place is the illusion of justice.

Its a shame, because there is a lot of talent on the screen. de la Reguera, Lucas, Patton and especially Huerta have a real gravity in their performances, but its all for naught. Perhaps if they were part of the more concise and tense ridden television series, and the story was given more time to breathe more than simplistic leftist platitudes into the story, we would have something to pomder aside from how Blumhouse can keep making money off of such a weak material.

(* out of *****)