The Purge: Election Year – Review
By Lynn Sorel
Rating: 8 out of 10
Synopsis: Years after sparing the man who killed his son, former police sergeant Barnes has become head of security for Senator Charlie Roan, a Presidential candidate targeted for death on Purge night due to her vow to eliminate the Purge.
Our Thoughts: The Purge: Election Year is an excellent third film in the series centered on a government sanctioned night of murder.
This time around, a Senator who lost her family on Purge night is leading the movement to get the night eliminated. Meanwhile the leaders of the NFFA remove the protection on government employees for this year’s Purge night so they can attempt to remove her from the Presidential race.
Just as Anarchy did, we again follow a few groups of people on Purge night, whose stories intersect. The Senator attempts to protect herself in her own home with the help of her security team, which is being led by Leo Barnes, whom we followed in Anarchy. Meanwhile, a deli owner and his friends are attempting to protect his business himself after Purge-protection insurance companies are raising the rates to impossible to pay heights.
The night is full of the expected chaos and destruction, with some creative new Purgers, including a crew who created a guillotine and are beheading people in the streets. Local stores are even capitalizing on the murder night, selling masks to customers saying that. “The Purge is Halloween for adults.” In a way, this highlights one of the great thing about these movies, the horrifying costumes and masks Purgers wear in each film.
We get an inside look at the NFFA who are running the country. The series parallels with our current systemic problems in America continue. The NFFA is looking a lot like religious extremism, with their holding of a Purge Mass, which takes place at a church.
The film is murder and action packed, and satisfying for fans on many levels. As someone who is a fan of the storyline they have chosen to focus on since Anarchy, I very much enjoyed the film. However, if you were looking for more random, nonsensical murder and gore and didn’t enjoy Anarchy, probably won’t enjoy this one either.
Frank Grillo is excellent, again, as the bad ass Leo Barnes. Mykelti Williamson is hilarious as deli owner Joe, and Betty Gabriel is absolutely perfect as the female heroin of the film, Laney Rucker. If you liked the other Purge films, you can’t miss Election Year!
