If you’re not familiar with the provocative horror movie franchise that made its debut in 2013, it revolves around the dystopian United States in which—one night a year—it’s legal to commit any crime, including murder. Invented by an insurgent political party called the New Founding Fathers of America, the government-sanctioned slaughter designates a specific 12-hour period.
The hot-button issue is illegal immigration. “Can The Purge help a divided America?” asks a news anchor, preparing for the bloodlust. Hoping to survive are undocumented immigrants who fled drug cartel violence in Mexico. Juan (Tenoch Huerta) and Adela (Ana de las Reguera) live in southern Texas. Adela works in a meat-packing plant; Juan works as a ‘vaquero’ (cowboy) for the Tuckers, a wealthy ranch family. Sympathetic Caleb (Will Patton) is the Tucker patriarch; disdainful Dylan (Josh Lucas) is his hot-headed son.
“Your son doesn’t like me because I’m Mexican,” Juan tells Caleb. Although the Tuckers think they’re safe from terror and violence in their maximum-security bunker, Juan ingratiates himself to the family when he and his buddy (Alejandro Edda) save them, along with Dylan’s pregnant wife (Cassidy Freeman) and younger sister (Leven Ramblin).
As dawn breaks and sirens sound, instead of peace, the white supremacists’ killing spree continues. Juan, Adela, and the Tuckers realize their only escape is to seek sanctuary in Mexico before the border closes. “Help us purify this nation,” chant the masked, swastika-tattooed, heavily-armed Purgers. Blandly scripted by franchise creator James DeMonaco, the heavy-handed allegory is helmed by Mexican director Everardo Gout, who over-utilizes cheap jump-scares as the purge becomes a scourge. Optional.