The First Purge is a prequel to The Purge franchise and is set on Staten Island. The New Founding Fathers have recently been elected and decide to conduct a psychological experiment to determine whether the purge would work as a national exercise. People in the neighborhood must decide whether or not to stay or leave, but what no one except those politically in charge know that the experiment is rigged.
The First Purge may be the best one in the franchise, which is high praise considering it is a prequel, and the other movies are strong entries, but each installment left plenty of room for improvement. I feel as if The First Purge fully shed The Purge: Election Year’s ambivalence about a violent uprising against a corrupt government. It also fully embraced and advanced the racial, socioeconomic political agenda of The Purge: Anarchy without suffering from the innate stupidity of characters doing things that they should know not do on purge night like leave home because it is a prequel, and no one knows the logistics of the government program. This installment also suffered none of the pacing issues and restraint in violence from the original and goes all out with an orgy of cathartic violence.
The First Purge is not a subtle movie, but these are not subtle times. After I watched the movie, I found out the director, Gerard McMurray, is a black man and kicked myself for not seeing it in the theaters because he really goes there in terms of using imagery pulled straight out of history books and the evening news to remind the audience that similar events happen regularly without the veneer of the purge. You don’t need a special night to shoot black people. There is a twist regarding the identity of those systematically murdering people, and it surpasses Bushwick by giving viewers permission to guiltlessly root against people who are cinematic substitutes for real life counterparts causing harm to Americans whom they view as anything, but a child of God. Lest you miss the broad brushstrokes of McMurray’s film, the red hat marketing of the film and a few well-placed points of dialogue make the connection to reality clear. “What they’re doing to us, what they’re doing to this country. I’m worried about this country. I’m worried about our future.”
The First Purge uses the law and order veneer to disguise genocide in a ghetto. The government officials complain about crime while committing it except the government calls it legal when they do it. This film punctures that hypocrisy wholeheartedly by showing that even those deemed as criminals can better distinguish between right and wrong. Unlike Bushwick, this movie provocatively decides to dump the cynicism, and instead of a white young woman as the hero, it is a black male drug dealer. Leave your respectability politics at the door.
The First Purge answers the question that I posed after viewing The Oath. Who has the skills and can be triggered to fight against an oppressive government if civilians are attacked without provocation by the government? This prequel seems to disagree with my premise that those deemed criminals like drug dealers and gang members would not be willing to defend a community that they seem to harm, but they have to set up a few plot contrivances to get there. I’m not sure if I completely find it feasible, but it isn’t boring to watch. The connection between criminal enterprises, including drug dealing, and government seem to be more intertwined than believers in the rule of law would like to believe, but I also can’t ignore the Iran Contra affair. Sadly this dystopian franchise once again seems more optimistic than reality.
It is the first time that the franchise was funny thanks in large part to Mugga, who played Dolores. It is a brilliant mashup of genres: horror, action, sci-fi, crime, drama. There was one sequence that specifically felt like a Bond meets blaxploitation. There could be an entire standalone slasher movie devoted to Skeletor. It even pays homage to John McClane complete with a tank top in the denouement.
If you’re concerned that leveling up will leave viewers with no stupid characters to feel superior to, have no fear because The First Purge has not neglected you. If you get hurt before purge night even starts, wouldn’t you stay home or go to a party instead? Also if you don’t follow my instructions, and you are in danger, good luck. You’re on your own. There are a few moments when I thought the movie was going to take a couple of predictable routes such as a bad guy jumping out of the closet or someone’s stupidity leading to a large group being endangered because of one person’s actions and then that guy learns a valuable lesson. Nope! After looking at the deleted scenes, it is clear that the filmmakers considered it then wisely decided to omit these tropes in favor of pinpointing all forces on the real enemy. Suddenly even the most ineffective figure becomes an action hero against evil. I’ll allow it.
The biggest name in The First Purge is Marisa Tomei, who plays a pivotal supporting character. Sadly if there is a permanently dumb character, it is she. How can you be so smart yet so dumb? She should have seen it coming. Also pro tip: don’t dance with a guy covered in blood unless it is Halloween, and you saw him putting the fake blood on himself.
I loved The First Purge. If you enjoyed Bushwick or before this prequel, your favorite Purge installment was the second one, The Purge: Anarchy, then you must see this film. If you think the first one was the best and hate the direction that this franchise is going, skip it because it is not for you. I haven’t checked out the series yet, but hopefully one day.