Review of The Purge: Election Year (2016) by Tim M — 30 Jun 2016

From the opening scene of The Purge: Election Year onward, I knew I was in for a hell of a ride. Despite already being a fan of the franchise thus far, this is the Purge film that I've been waiting for. The politics behind the controversial night in America's future are front and center, as the story follows a senator's journey through the very night she has vowed to eliminate, if elected. While its predecessor, The Purge: Anarchy showed that not everyone agrees with "Purge night" and had a political backdrop, Election Year benefits greatly by putting the political stances at the forefront of the film; the battle ignited between politician vs. politician and rich vs. poor serve their allegorical and satirical purposes with flying colors (pun intended).

My favorite thing about this film is its near-flawless blending of several storytelling elements - it works as a social satire, a thriller, the darkest of comedies, and a political bumrush - that's a lot of ground for one film to cover. Blend all of that with the sequences of highly-stylized, bordering on fetishistic use of disturbing violence by "Purgers" and you have a good idea of what to expect from this film. While your journey to see Election Year may not exactly be a break from the abundance of politics present at the moment, I promise you you've at least never seen politics done like this before.