The First Purge
Cert: 18; Now showing The Purge franchise recently decided it wanted to be a dystopian finger-wag to the policies of the current US administration. Not only was its last, 2016, instalment subtitled Election Year, but this fourth outing, a prequel about the origins of the annual anarchic hall pass in which society is allowed to tear itself apart for 12 hours, carries distinctly Trumpian flavours.
Besides the use of Republicanred baseball caps and “America First” innuendo in its marketing, Gerard McMurray’s film commences with the rise to power (assisted by the support of the NRA) of a demagogue leader who preys on the fears of a powerful but disillusioned conservative base. A cornerstone of this is a nation overrun with “outsiders” and “security threats”.
A mandate to rule achieved, the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) set about trialling a sociological experiment on Staten Island whereby residents will be allowed to run amok for a night in order to vent antisocial tendencies.
In the lead up, we meet siblings Nya (Lex Scott Davis) and Isaiah (Joivan Wade) as they prepare for the starting siren. Nya stays behind in the projects to help at the local church, but Isaiah sneaks out seeking revenge on Skeletor (Rotimi Paul), a local bad egg who has willingly signed up to the anarchy. All the while, Dmitri (Y’lan Noel), a local gang leader and former squeeze of Nya’s, has to watch his back in case rivals use the lawless night to have a pop at him.
An interesting premise is completely negated as everything descends into a B-movie quality fiasco of the cheapest frights served up between shoddy episodes of shlocky action, absurd plotting and flimsy characterisation. ★★ HILARY A WHITE