Review of The First Purge (2018) by Chris O — 14 Jul 2018

A surprisingly politically driven thriller that's both entertaining and powerful.

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.

Alright so after going through the first three Purge films again recently, I was decently excited to see this film. I wasn't dying to see it or anything but by the trailers, I had some faith that this prequel could be a nice addition to the franchise. While it hasn't settled well with audiences, I actually really enjoyed this film.

One thing I really enjoyed about this film was the intensity. It's the very first Purge ever and when that alarm sounds, it feels so real. When we're in the streets following these characters, everything feels so eery. And really, it goes exactly how you think it would. It starts off and most people aren't committing serious crimes. But from there, it constantly elevates and it does a damn good job of it. This film felt really real in some aspects and I love how much it immersed you in this world.

This movie is ultimately pretty unsettling. Like other previous films, there's a lot of disturbing imagery and content here. We're essentially watching the worst of humanity come out and it's pretty powerful. The things we see are pretty sinister and they did a great job of really continuing that trend.

One thing I love was the production design. One of the reasons I loved it was because of one addition involving contact lenses. Those participating in the Purge wore these colored contact lenses and visually, it was an amazing edition. It kinda took away the humanity in their eyes and made them seem so much more evil. That was one of those things that really immersed me and sent chills down my spine.

After reading a lot about it, I feel like a lot of people dislike this film because it seemingly turns into a race war. Personally, I can totally see that, but I also feel like some people are being too sensitive about it. I think this film is trying to say something politically and I think a lot of the general audience are missing that. There's a lot of deep, contextual ideals here and even though it's not perfect, it does it well. By the end, it turns into this B-Movie, violent horror but I was okay with that because it executed it real well.

In the end, this film had a lot of really fun and immersive aspects about it and I had fun with it. It's nowhere near perfect but I thoroughly enjoyed this film.