Audiences turned The Purge into a surprise summer hit. After witnessing the response to the film and listening to the conversations that it provoked, James DeMonaco (writer/director of The Purge and writer of The Negotiator, Assault on Precinct 13) quickly returned to the explosive universe that he created with an even more arresting idea for a sequel: placing the audience outside on the streets during the annual Purge.
A speculative thriller that shows us what occurs during The Purge outside of the confines of a suburban neighbourhood, The Purge: Anarchy returns us to a dystopian future. Our government, now re-engineered by the New Founders of America (NFA), has sanctioned its annual 12-hour Purge to ensure that the crime rate stays below 1% for the rest of the year. With police and hospitals suspending help, it's one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment or fear of retribution.
Now it's time to take to the streets for anarchy and, boy, does the blood flow as the body count triples.
The new story follows an unlikely group of five citizens who, over the course of the night, find out just how far they will go to protect themselves and, ultimately, each other, as they fight to survive a night fraught with impossible decisions.
As the new allies question everything they've ever been told by their leaders, they will be hunted across the massive city in a kill-or-be-killed series of survival scenarios that blur the line between sponsored revenge and righteous justice.
As evidenced by the success of The Purge, audiences were fascinated with the concept and asked themselves: What if this happened in my neighbourhood? Still, for writer/director James DeMonaco and producer Sébastien K Lemercier, the thriller was originally intended to be a smaller film that served as a commentary on society.
DeMonaco was as surprised as anyone that the concept was so universal. He offers: "Sébastien and I first thought it would be a politically subversive indie that would play in small art houses in Los Angeles and New York. To me, the family in the first film isn't particularly noble, which is not normal for a Hollywood film. We fashioned The Purge to be a morality play about this one family's comeuppance and the lessons they learn about violence, money and class. It was built to be more provocative than commercial, but now it's both."
Truly, DeMonaco is the first to admit that he wants his films not only to entertain, but to start a conversation. He reflects: "With this series, I'm hoping to reflect something in American society about how we look at violence. It's very different than other places in the world. We've found that audiences leave the theatre talking about our relationship with violence as a society."
The filmmaker felt that if he were to return to this place and time for a follow-up, he could further expand the concept and show movie-goers what was happening in the world that he imagined-one that existed outside of the first thriller's suburban enclave. He shares: "We always said if we were lucky enough to do part two, we would want to show what's happening on the streets in one of the biggest cities in America. We envisioned opening it up, because we felt the audience wanted to see more than what we gave them in the first film."
For The Purge: Anarchy, DeMonaco expands the canvas, showing audiences what it's like to step outside and experience The Purge from the viewpoint of lower-class citizens who don't have the luxury of intricate security systems to protect themselves.
Be daring and see what happens when we purge our anger and let the blood flow.
Read more about The Purge: Anarchy and other new releases at www.writingstudio.co.za
