THE FIRST PURGE 15

OUT NOW DVD, BD, 4K, Digital HD EXTRAS Featurettes, Deleted scene

Three Purges in, franchise creator James DeMonaco hands over directing duties (to Gerard McMurray) for an efficient prequel whose largely black ensemble and tech-savvy trappings (camera-carrying contacts, anybody?) are some way removed from the Ethan Hawke original. Otherwise it’s the usual combination of grim retributive violence and on-the-nose allegory, focused this time on a trial Purge on Staten Island that quickly goes off the rails. Lewisham native Joivan Wade toplines a cast pleasingly reliant on similarly fresh faces. Neil Smith