The Forever Purge ★★ ½ ☆☆ | Movie Review

Synopsis


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.

Directed by Everardo Gout.
Written by James DeMonaco.
Starring Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Leven Rambin, Cassidy Freeman, Alejandro Edda and Will Patton.
Released available on Sky Cinema and Now.


Review


I'm definitely late to the party on this series, I watched The Purge in preparation for First Purge and really enjoyed both... and let's face it, there's nothing like some gratuitous violence to fill your evening!

The annual Purge comes and goes with the usual drama, with those locked up safely in their spacious homes watching the events on TV. When morning comes and they come out of hiding, they get a welcome they weren't expecting. A rogue movement has no time for the law, it's now the forever purge.

So, a section of the population has decided to rise up and take their power back the only way they know how, through violence... you always worry that films might hit a little too close to home... let's not delve into that topic too much though.

Josh Lucas feels like he's making a resurgence these days. I'm not sure how I feel about him in this sort of role though. Dylan Tucker isn't exactly an exciting character, he has a rather unbelievable arc through the film, and there's no point where I felt any sympathy for him.

A lot of the other characters have similar flaws, there's no one that's really memorable apart from maybe Ana de la Reguera as Adele. She has some interesting moments to do with her backstory, but there's never much of an in-depth look at any of it throughout the film.

The Purge was a great concept and I loved the way it was very focused on one environment. The First Purge had an interesting story and I liked having the inception of the idea unfold. But the trouble with The Forever Purge was that it was somehow too much and not enough all at the same time. There were moments that had a lot of potential for the characters but they were cut off before they managed to get anywhere.

I got the escalating amount of the mindless violence I was looking for, but it seemed to mainly just be "travelling" action. There wasn't anything particularly gripping about it, and it didn't hold up to the previous instalments of the franchise I've seen, and that was a real shame.

What you should do


If you're following the series then absolutely watch it, but if you're not, and you want purgey goodness then I'd suggest one of the others that have come before it.

Movie thing you wish you could take home


A big ol' ranch with some horses.

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