Review of The Purge: Election Year (2016) by Basilios B — 29 Jun 2016

About as subtle as a Mack truck running through a nitroglycerine plant, Purge: Election Year sets its sights high, but if you can get through the often ineffectively jarring references to the current election cycle, you might find one of the most compelling stories of the franchise, largely due to strong performances by its main cast members.

More than any other Purge movie, this latest installment makes you care about the people caught in the crossfire. The other films always felt like characters too neatly fit into one of two roles: innocent and evil. Purgers were always cast as psychotic nutcases sharpening their knives in anticipation, and victims were always cast as martyrs helpless to avoid their destruction. In Election Year, there are still plenty of one-dimensional characters, don't get me wrong, but there are also many entertaining, complex characters with compelling backstories. We see former gang members who have become protectors and current purgers who are still capable of compassion.

This new level of character development leaves you truly worried about the fates of the main characters. Whereas in previous films you simply felt bad for everyone in the same way you would feel bad about anyone caught in terrible circumstances, because the newest protagonists are depicted as flawed, funny human beings rather than stock kills waiting to happen, the film achieves a new level of tension the other films lacked. You'll want all the main characters to make it through Purge Night, and you'll be terrified that they won't.