The Forever Purge – Solid Twist on the Purge
Director: Everardo Gout
Writer: James DeMonaco (Screenplay)
Starring: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda, Will Patton
Plot: All the rules are broken as a sect of lawless marauders decides that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end.
Tagline – The rules are broken.
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Forever Purge starts as we follow two Mexicans Adela (Reguera) and Juan (Huerta) who sneak across the border to start a new life in America, with Adela working in a meat packing plant and Juan working for Caleb Tucker (Patton) as a cowboy on his ranch.
The pair get to experience their first Purge, believing they have survived, until the morning after a group of lawless marauders decide to make it a ‘Forever Purge’ continuing to kill anyone that doesn’t agree with them, believing they need to make America great again. Adela, Juan, Dylan (Tucker), Cassidy (Freeman), Harper (Rambin) and T.T (Edda) needing to race to the Mexican border for safety.
Thoughts on The Forever Purge
Characters & Performances – Adela has started her new life in America, she is looking to put her mysterious past behind her, showing her leadership skills on her new job, she will need to use her skills from her past to lead the people to safety. Juan is Adela’s husband who has taken the cowboy role, he is the best on the Tucker ranch despite feeling like Dylan hates him, he will need to put the differences aside to make it out alive. Dylan Tucker is the son of Caleb, he will always look to prove himself the best, he doesn’t like mixing with anyone outside his group, but doesn’t look to create the violent hate towards them, he must also learn to deal with the differences to make it out alive. Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta and Josh Lucas all do well in this film, all getting that moment to shine through the chaos.
Story – The story here takes us back to the world where the Purge is happening, only this time a large group of people around America decide to continue the Purge, causing the mayhem and chaos, as we follow a group of survivors looking for safety. This story does take the idea of The Purge and does something fresh with the idea, showing us just how people will decide to make up their own rules, wanting to continue the violence once it has finished. This might well work for the chaos created, but it does seem to miss out why the Purge is suddenly a thing again, like why was it bought back after one of the previous films exposed the truth behind it and ended it. The marketing for the film is also misleading, with the colourful psychopaths just not being involved as much as advertised.
Themes – The Forever Purge is an action horror that will continue to bring us down to the violent action being committed by people who want to unleash their anger in murder over one night, only this time, they don’t stop at the end, making it a race against time to try and make it out alive. The settings are used to show the luxury life the Tucker’s have compared to the workers from other countries who are struggling to survive. We do get one continuous take through a chaotic battle ground in the streets, which is the highlight of the film, because most of the action is a shaky to watch.
Final Thoughts – The Forever Purge is a solid addition to the chaotic franchise, but does lack the ideas that were built up in the past instalments for the bigger picture.
