I won’t lie, I love the Purge movies, The Purge: Anarchy was the film that really got me interested in reviewing films but really, if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.

The First Purge takes place after the new founding fathers are elected into office. They choose an island, Staten Island to be exact, to hold an experiment that will begin the purge. Of course some are all for the night, especially as the NFFA are offering residents $5000 to stay on the island and participate and even more money dependant on the crimes they commit. While others aren’t happy with the purge and of course are scared of what will happen to them, especially as they don’t have the money to flee elsewhere.

So on the purge night they have given participants special contact lenses that hold cameras within them so they can track people’s progress and what they’re up to. While some do head straight to murder others choose to party and loot instead. This annoys the NFFA and the new founding fathers and so they set up gangs to come and join the purge, these are obviously soldiers or government bodies who are used to doing this sort of work.

And really, this was the only way the purge really became a thing because otherwise there was not enough hype or involvement by the ‘common man’. But this is a storyline we have already seen in The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge Election Year so really brings nothing new to the franchise. The ending of the movie is also quite quick and lack lustre so any reaction we could get from the people who joined into the purge and those who lost people through it is not even acknowledged or thought about. I think that could’ve been a good insight into how people really react to the purge and give us something we haven’t seen before. Especially if because of the acts committed on that night that then meant more wanted to join in and purge to get their revenge. That would definitely be a movie I would enjoy watching.

But alas, this movie is much like the other two sequels, where the same old same happened but with new characters in a new setting. It was still enjoyable of course but bought nothing new to the table and that’s a shame.

What did you think of The First Purge?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding