The Purge franchise explores what would happen in America in a (not-so-distant) dystopian future if, for a 12-hour period once a year, all crime was legal and no emergency services were available -- a juicy and fascinating premise for a horror movie. The first entry in the series, 2013's The Purge, approached this idea from the angle of a slasher film by focusing entirely on a single family being terrorized in their own home on Purge Night. Too claustrophobic to really do justice to this concept, it fell flat. The sequel, 2014's The Purge: Anarchy, expanded the scope a bit more by following a man on a blood-drenched quest for revenge during the Purge, but it still felt lacking. At long last, The Purge: Election Year gets the sense of scale right. The movie zooms out enough to depict the global implications of an annual Purge in the United States, while also managing to get down and dirty in the action with its main characters. Unsurprisingly set during an election year, the film opens with the story of the one-dimensional Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), who lost her family on Purge Night some years prior. She is running for president on a platform of abolishing the Purge, as she argues that the annual bloodbath is simply an opportunity for the rich and powerful to target the poor, effectively wiping out a large chunk of the population while keeping the economic scales tipped unfairly in their favor. Her opposing candidate is a minister handpicked by the New Founding Fathers, a powerful group of wealthy white men who surround themselves with fascist iconography, and who zealously favor keeping the Purge going. Outraged by the senator's popularity, the New Founding Fathers overturn a law that ensures the safety of certain groups, including government officials, during the chaos, insisting that eliminating exceptions for the night of terror is a move toward fairness and inclusion. Meanwhile, the movie explores the intriguing legal and political implications of the Purge: Insurance companies raise their rates exponentially the day before it occurs, leaving middle- and lower-class business owners either bankrupt or forced to risk their lives in order to defend their property. There is also a discussion of the economic boom resulting from the influx of foreign travelers to America during the Purge, a phenomenon known as "murder tourism." After a not-so-surprising act of betrayal, Senator Roan and her security guard Leo (Frank Grillo) find themselves on the run from a murderous, well-funded militia on the streets of D.C. Luckily for them, they cross paths with a group of friends: hardworking deli owner Joe (Mykelti Williamson); his friend and employee Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria); and Laney (Betty Gabriel), a former Purge Night legend who now runs a covert triage operation during the event. This trio of interesting and well-developed characters provide the heart of the story as they navigate the city streets in an attempt to protect themselves, their interests, and their new friends. The film's visuals are over-the-top and striking: blood-splattered masks and costumes, dreamy tableaus of murder, intense sequences of brutal gun violence, and an astonishing assortment of creative weapons (bedazzled assault rifles and medieval-style morning stars, anyone?). By pairing a horrifically violent, Grand Guignol aesthetic with an examination of the politics of class, race, and gender, The Purge: Election Year emerges as the kind of dark satire that this concept deserves.
