Purge series continues the cult

Move over Handmaids, here comes The Purge. Yes, the cult movie franchise about an alternative, dystopian America is now a 10-part TV series (streaming now on Amazon Prime Video). For those of you unfamiliar with the ‘‘new American holiday’’, first introduced in a 2013 movie starring Ethan Hawke, it was part of a draft of reforms ushered in by the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) after they wrested control of the country following an economic collapse.

For 12 hours on the night of March 21 every year, citizens can legally indulge in any crime, including murder. Through three films, we’ve seen how it has resulted in crime and unemployment rates plummeting to 1 per cent and revelations that it was a way of population control and eliminating the poor.

In the most recent outing, The First Purge , we discovered how the 28th amendment that created the event was introduced. That sets the scene for this show, which initially focuses on three very different sets of people as they prepare for the latest ‘‘Purge Night’’. There’s former US Marine Miguel (War for the Planet of the Apes’ Gabriel Chavarria), desperately looking for sister Penelope (Six’s Jessica Garza) after receiving a cryptic message from her.

In the financial district, we have Jane

(Amanda Warren) forced to leave her mother in hospital and go into lockdown at work so she can push through an important international finance deal. Meanwhile, in the suburbs,

Jenna (Hannah Emily Anderson) and Rick (Colin Woodell),

pictured, venture out to an elite ‘‘celebration’’ in the hope of securing a lifechanging deal.

Unfortunately, they all discover things are not as safe or secure as they expect.

Written by original Purge creator James DeMonaco and featuring directors whose credits include everything from The Wire to Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead, the show’s crowd-pleasing mix of escalating tensions, evil empires, double dealing and violent action will no doubt attract a loyal following.

However, those wanting something deeper in political and social allegories a la The Handmaid’s Tale will be somewhat disappointed. Everything is far more black-and-white in The Purge – you know pretty much early on who are going to be the goodies and baddies and parallels to Trump’s ‘‘Great Again’’ America are delivered with a limited amount of subtlety.

But that doesn’t mean the resulting ‘‘action-drama’’ isn’t entertaining or sometimes compelling in a Prison Break, 24 kind of way. – James Croot