We all knew that we hadn’t seen the last of the dystopian future America presented in last summer’s The Purge after the film grossed $89 million on a minuscule $3 million budget. Now that the sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, is due to drop this June, it appears that Universal is aiming to turn the property into a series with Paranormal Activity-type ubiquity.
Personally, I think that could be a really good thing, considering there’s plenty to explore in the world of The Purge, in which America is controlled by a fundamentalist Christian dictatorship known as the New Founding Fathers of America, who dictate one night a year where all crime is legal. That includes rape, murder and harassing Ethan Hawke. Sadly, Hawke isn’t returning for the follow-up (for reasons obvious to those who saw the first Purge) and neither is Lena Headey, but the first trailer for the sequel, which you can check out below, teases a whole new cast of characters:
While the first film was, beneath all the posturing, a pretty standard home-invasion thriller, The Purge: Anarchy seems to be a more ambitious look at the reality of the series’ universe. It follows a well-to-do couple (Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez) who, en route to their fortified home, break down in a big city on Purge Night. As emergency services are suspended, the two struggle to survive as gangs of Purgers hunt them. Meanwhile, other civilians do their best to survive the night. Michael K. Williams, Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Borde also star.
The first Purge took place in an upscale neighborhood, so we didn’t really get to see the full extent of the chaos that occurs on Purge Night, but Anarchy shines the spotlight on a more dangerous, impoverished area. It’s regrettable that director-writer James DeMonaco still felt the need to use a well-to-do couple as his protagonists, but hopefully Anarchy won’t conform to stereotypes. The film has a chance to make a strong point about poverty, racial tensions and the class divide, as long as it doesn’t get lazy with its characterization.
Of course, DeMonaco will be upping the intensity factor for this sequel, with lots of explosions, freaky masked hooligans and gunplay. The first Purge was a little tame in terms of its content, but I’m expecting Anarchy to live up to its name.
What do you think of the first trailer? Will you be Purge-ing this summer, or were you not a fan of the first film? Sound off below.
The Purge: Anarchy breaks loose June 20.