In an era when it seems that laws are suspended or remade every minute or every day, a horror movie based around the premise where for just 12 hours justice is thrown out the window seems quaint. But Universal and Blumhouse Pictures are clearly hoping to push some buttons with the latest chapter in “The Purge” series, “The First Purge.”
Starring Y’Lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Luna Lauren Velez and Marisa Tomei, franchise creator and staple James DeMonaco sticks around as the screenwriter, but passes the director’s chair over to Gerard McMurray (producer of “Fruitvale Station,” director of “Burning Sands“). As you might have guessed from the title, this is a prequel of sorts, showing how this whole purge thing got started in the first place. Here’s the official synopsis:
Behind every tradition lies a revolution. Next Independence Day, witness the rise of our country’s 12 hours of annual lawlessness. Welcome to the movement that began as a simple experiment: The First Purge.
To push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) test a sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of the marginalized, the contagion will explode from the trial-city borders and spread across the nation.
Celebrate America by going to see “The First Purge” on July 4th.