I have a confession to make before I begin this review. I have never seen the first two Purge movies. So, you will have to bare with me if I make some mistakes in the plot line. I would have to go back and watch the first two films to be totally accurate, and I didn’t want to wait that long to do the review. After all, it’s only in theaters for a short while, and you don’t want to miss it if you think you might like it, right? So, let’s get to it.

The Purge Election Year Movie Review

The Purge: Election Year stars Frank Grillo as Leo Barnes, a former police sergeant who survived the last Purge film and is now the head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell). Roan is a presidential candidate whose platform is based upon ending the purge. If you are unfamiliar with what the purge is, let me explain. In this film, there is a new leadership in place in the United States known as the New Founding Fathers of America (N.F.F.A.). The biggest change in the law that they have made is to make the purge legal. The purge is a twelve hour period once every year in which any and all crime is legal, including murder. The idea is that the rich and powerful can rid society of the weak and poor.

There are a surprising large number of people who enjoy the purge and have voted to keep the N.F.F.A. in office for over 25 years, with their president being Minister Elwidge Owens (Kyle Secor). However, there is a growing number of people who are now tired of the purge and want it abolished. Roan herself is a survivor of the purge, when a devout purger broke into her home and made her watch as he slaughtered her entire family. Now she is the biggest advocate for ending the purge.

As purge night approaches, Senator Roan is placed in protective custody when the N.F.F.A. changes the rules of the purge to waive the exemption status for government officials, with the express hope that Roan herself will be purged. Barnes considers himself Roan’s only trusted protector and swears on his life that she will survive purge night. With a little help from an unwitting group of strangers who themselves have good reasons to see the purge end, Roan and Barnes set out to survive the night, but soon discover that surviving the night won’t be easy and even loyal friends can’t be trusted.

My Thoughts

This movie was somewhat what I expected, but was also very surprising. It did have a lot of action, but it also was a bit gory in places, so I would think twice about taking the kids. Also, I don’t in any way condone the subject matter of this film. The film implies that killing people is fine as long as religion justifies it. That’s the part that I can’t condone about this film. However, it was surprisingly entertaining at times. I would give it 3 stars on my 1 to 5 scale.

In my opinion, if there is another film you are interested in seeing, you might could do better by seeing something else. However, if you are a horror buff or just like a lot of blood and action in your movies, then this is the film for you.

Have You Seen The Purge Election Year?

What did you think? Feel free to share your comments below.