THE FOREVER PURGE ETA I 9 JULY 2021
There’s method to the madness…
DIRECTOR Everado Gout STARRING Ana de la Regeura, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin
“It’s like, ‘OK, we have this experiment, but what happens if we unleash it?’” Everardo Gout tells Total Film about his upcoming action-horror The Forever Purge, the fifth and final instalment in the Purge franchise. “It takes everything one step further.”
In 2013, the original centred on a wealthy family’s fight for survival during an annual event that sees all crime, including murder, made legal for 12 hours. Its sequels built on that ultra-violent vision, exposing how the free-for-all affects different kinds of people, many of whom can’t handily afford to fortify their homes with steel shutters.
Set after the first four, unlike recent prequel The First Purge, this new instalment
follows Adela (Ana de la Reguera) and Juan (Tenoch Huerta), who find solace at a Texan ranch, having fled a drug cartel in Mexico. But their newfound peace is disrupted when a group of outsiders decide to extend their carnage beyond the titular window of time, rendering nowhere (and no-when) safe.
“It’s an amazing story of Latinos and Americans coming together to overcome despair and evil,” teases Gout, who says opening the world up sets it apart from earlier outings, which all take place over the course of one night, and enabled him to deliver something “more artistic” and grounded. Fear not though, it still has ambitious set-pieces in abundance.
“We did one very complicated scene on a one-take,” Gout explains. “It starts in a car, then goes out on to the streets, up into a building... When we got it, everyone
exploded with joy. We’re in the entertainment business. If we can’t even entertain ourselves, what’s the point?”
Blending thrills and sociopolitical commentary is something the Purge movies are well-known for. With this one, creator/ writer James DeMonaco hopes to “set the record straight’’ on the series’ overarching themes, condemning certain goings-on perhaps more strongly than before.
“‘I want my intentions to be crystal clear on what I think about violence and what’s going on in the world.’ That’s what he told me,” recalls Gout, claiming the film is like a social litmus test. “It’s dystopian, but he’s trying to get us to look in the mirror. It makes you think, ‘Shit, if I get pushed into a corner, would I do the same?’ Once you open that door, how do you close it again?”