The First Purge

Movies
28 Days of Horror Movies

Thoughts

Not to be confused with the first Purge movie. This is actually the third iirc.

Anyways. Wow. The First Purge. I have so much to say when it comes to this movie. First I'll say that if you're even slightly interested in it, go watch it before you read this because I'm covering it in-depth. I mean, I don't know why you'd be interested in it because the Purge itself is such a nothingburger of a series, but there you go.

The First Purge is probably not a good movie by any means, but I love it all the same, and the reason for this is how weirdly transgressive it is? It's ham-fisted in its narrative to an extent, but so much of what it does is kind of wild to see in what is ostensibly a big budget film. The premise of the film is that it tells the story of the very first Purge, the one night in America where all crime is legal. Don't worry about the logistics, that's not what we're here for. Just go with it. Suspend that disbelief with all your might, then suspend even harder.

The very first Purge does not take place across America. It's an experiment that might expand in the broader future. This first Purge takes place in Staten Island, with a low-income neighborhood serving as the test of whether it could work or not. Residents are given $5000 to stay on the island over the night, with more money given if they actively participate. When the Purge actively starts...nothing happens. People rob ATMs, throw block parties, but no one's killing anybody. This is a problem for the Right-Wingers New Founding Fathers of America political party who are pushing for the Purge to be a success story so that they can eliminate low income neighborhoods and thus cut spending on Social Programs.

And so: the NFFA end up stirring the pot by sending in militia groups to kill people - mostly minorities - while also distributing weapons into this low income neighborhood so that they can further sow chaos.

Again - this plot point is so on the nose it may as well be paying rent there. But it still boggles my mind that it showed up in such a commercially successful series. Also, there's no such thing as on the nose when it comes to white people understanding racial allegories. All text becomes sub-text.

Anyways speaking of race, this brings me to my next favorite part of The First Purge, which is the fact that it contains an entire cast of relatively unknown Black actors, especially when it first debuted in 2018. The only other big budget series I've seen with this many people of color in it is Fast and Furious, lmao.

The stand-out character is Dimitri, played by Y'lan Noel, aka the next man who should be casted as Blade. He's a drug kingpin born and raised on Staten Island, and when he becomes aware of what NFFA is doing, he and his crew arm themselves and fight back against the militias. What's interesting about Dimitri is the dichotomy of the bad things he does in comparison to the armed forces he's fucking up. The life he's lived up to that point comes from a lack of choice and opportunity, but he loves his home and the people in it, so he'll crack skulls to protect them. Could they have explored this angle more? Probably, but it's a miracle we even got we did from The First Purge and I wouldn't want them to strain themselves trying to do more, lol.

So yeah, is The First Purge a great film? Not really. It strains credulity with every step, and winks and nudges at you so hard you might want to file a restraining order. But despite all that, I can't help but adore it for the story it ends up telling. And that's because this movie is angry - at white supremacy and out-of-control capitalism, at the institutions that support them, at the lengths those institutions will go to uphold it while simultaneously denying it exists. Its politics might get a little muddled, but since when is rage precise? With every year, as US Politics become more and more ridiculous, The First Purge becomes almost prescient. No other movie in the series has hit as hard as this one.