The Forever Purge is a 2021 dystopian horror film which was directed by Everardo Gout and written by James DeMonaco, who also produced alongside Jason Blum and Michael Bay. It is the fifth film in the much loved Purge franchise and a direct sequel to 2016’s The Purge: Election Year. It was originally planned to be the final movie. Ana de la Reguera, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Alejandro Edda, and Will Patton star in the film, which follows a group of people who attempt to flee the United States after an insurrectionist movement continues to commit crimes and murders across the country following the end of the Purge.
Universal Pictures released The Forever Purge in theatres on July 2, 2021. It earned $68 million worldwide, well exceeding its $18 million budget, and received mixed reviews from reviewers, as did its predecessors. In this article, I will explain what went down in the fifth installment of this widely loved franchise and how it all ends considering that this film was originally supposed to mark the close of the franchise before Blum pushed for a sixth installment which is now said to be in development.
Plot summary
Before we dive into the nuances of the film, we have to know what happened and how the plot unfolded. The movie is set in a dystopic America where The New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) have reclaimed control of the US government in 2048, eight years after Charlene Roan’s presidential victory, and re-instituted the yearly Purge according to its original terms. Following their re-election, racial superiority and nativism have risen across the country, and many outside the ruling party are fearful that the approaching Purge would cause more harm to the country than the NFFA is willing to admit. Juan and Adela, a married migrant couple, cross the border illegally into Texas to flee a Mexican drug cartel and start a brand-new life, with Juan working as a farmhand on the Tucker family ranch and Adela working near Austin.
The movie focuses mainly on Juan and Adela and the way things go horribly wrong post purge, especially in the border state of Texas. Juan and Adela join their migrant community behind a protected sanctuary with armed guards to safeguard them ten months later, on the eve of their first ever Purge. As the Purge begins, Adela sees a nationalist Purger organization declare themselves a “Purge Purification Force” (PPF) with the intention of killing anybody they deem non-American. The migrant community survives the Purge without any casualties. Juan and Adela return to work the next morning. However, both of them realize that many of their coworkers have failed to show up for work. Adela is attacked by two Purgers shortly after, but is rescued by her boss Darius before both are arrested for killing their assailants. This is when we realize that things have begun to go wrong.
Meanwhile, Juan and fellow migrant coworker T.T. learn that the Tucker family has been kidnapped by their farmhands, who reveal themselves to be Purgers planning to take over the ranch. Caleb Tucker, the ranch owner, sacrifices himself to keep the Purgers distracted long enough for Juan and T.T. to rescue Dylan, Cassie, Dylan’s pregnant wife, and his sister Harper, who offer them a ride to find Adela. The national news is baffled as to why civilians continue to celebrate the Purge after it has ended. After the police van holding Adela and Darius is assaulted by other Purgers, the group rescues them.
They hear news stories about anarchy, murder, and damage in all fifty American states, with local emergency services overloaded, in an event dubbed the “Ever After Purge” as they wait in a petrol station. Canada and Mexico open their borders for the next six hours to safeguard non-Purger people, after which the borders will close and admission will be prohibited. The party decides to flee to El Paso, Texas, on the Mexican side of the border.
What follows is a perilous journey that the group undertakes to cross the border and make it to Mexico because staying in America where purgers roamed lawlessly, meant death for them. Juan and Dylan form a new bond on their route to El Paso, highlighting the prospect of a peaceful America. The city is in anarchy, and the government declares martial law to stop the PPF from destroying it. In all major American cities, the new Purification Force declared “Ever After Purge,” which meant that white supremacists were legally allowed to murder anyone and everyone.
They are also attacked by some of the leaders of the Ever After Purge movement and T.T. is killed in the process. Juan takes revenge by killing the woman who killed T.T. but that results in them getting pursued and persecuted by the violent armed group as they try to flee.
PPF attacks a US army military base in El Paso, prompting the NFFA to withdraw all armed forces from the city. As a result of the army’s retreat, crossing points are closed, leaving all of the migrants stranded in the burning city. They get separated but manage to follow signs that Mexicans leave all over the city to help fellow Mexicans in need and reach a safehouse where they are reunited. However, the situation only worsens from there onwards and they are forced to leave their safehouse as their only option is to flee to the border. Chiago Harjo, a Red Indian Tribe leader then takes them under his wing and vows to assist them in crossing the Mexican border.
Chiago’s Tribe had resided on the United States-Mexico border for centuries; therefore they were legally allowed to cross. The wall divided America and Mexico, however there were some areas of the terrain known as Los Pendejos where the wall was not constructed. Their only way out was through the passage. They manage to make it to through the reservation but are clocked by the recon team of the Ever After Purgers who now come after them to do two things. Firstly, they want to kill Juan for killing one of their senior members, ‘Mother’ and secondly, they want to stop all of the immigrants from crossing the border.
They pursue Chiago’s vehicle on biked and rovers and manage to quickly catch up to them. The group however has the time to send the women and children ahead while Juan, Adela, Chiago, Dylan and a couple of others stay behind to fight off the white supremacists. Both factions engage in a gunfight until their ammunition runs out, at which point they engage in a close-quarters brawl with hand weapons. The Purgers are murdered in the subsequent conflict, and the Alpha kidnaps Adela. Juan and Dylan, on the other hand, collaborate to restrain and murder him, saving Adela. The group then reunites in a refugee camp on the Mexican side of the border, where Dylan discovers Harper and Cassie. During their time apart, she had given birth, according to the latter. Dylan presents Juan and Adela to his infant daughter after thanking each other for their assistance in survival.
What is the Ever After Purge?
Purge Night, as conceived by the New Founding Fathers of America, served as a sociological release valve for the pressures that would befall future America, as well as a means of thinning the lower-class herd. Financial success, a 0% crime rate, and decreasing unemployment were expected to offer a sense of security and a better life for people who backed the NFFA. However, in The Forever Purge, the Ever After Purge movement came into play, taking the concept even further.
The Ever After Purgers are a factional group, splitting off from the New Founding Fathers of America who don’t believe in the same rules as the New Founding Fathers. They don’t want a one-night cleansing; they want a “Forever Purge.” Ever After Purgers didn’t stop wrecking and ravaging the country when the 7 a.m. horns blared, and they’re eager to reclaim their homeland. This leads to the most terrifying scenario, especially for all the people that they deem to not be American which includes immigrants, brown people and in the case of the movie’s protagonists, Mexicans as well.
The Forever Purge begins to gain traction. America falls under attack by lawlessness in an unmanageable condition, thanks to a faction of Purge followers who want to do precisely what the title indicates. A whole day of purging has seen Mexico and Canada block their borders to the United States indefinitely by the end. However, there was an amnesty period for some of our characters to cross the border into Mexico, which is what they utilize to cross over into safety.
It makes a dreadful kind of poetic sense that the NFFA created a monster by developing the Purge. They’ve weakened, if not completely destroyed, the concept of the rule of law. The way the Purgers feel fully justified in creating the “Ever After” Purge, as if it’s their right as Americans to do whatever they can to preserve their country for the “real” Americans, is where “The Forever Purge” has a genuine timely bite. “The Forever Purge” is a terrifying satire of the current climate of “nationalist” intolerance, as well as the lawlessness that is being invoked in its name.
Ending Explained
In the end, the PPF was defeated, and their Alpha was killed by Juan and Dylan. In the refugee camp, Dylan’s wife Cassie gave birth to their daughter. However, even with the introduction of a new life, butchery and violence continued to rise. The NFFA tried everything they could to keep the Forever Purge under control, but Karma struck them in the heart. As they failed to contain the rising wildfire of hatred, their creation itself destroyed their authority.
If you’ve ever wondered how a new civil war in America will play out, The Forever Purge is where you’ll see it. The nation that was once the United States is divided into two factions: Ever After Purgers and those who oppose them. As the film comes to a climax, we see the country covered in real darkness, lit only by the fires of the civil war that has erupted across the country in the aftermath of this illegal cleansing.
With the entire country engulfed in flames, the NFFA has been blamed for the ongoing bloodshed and has been disbanded. According to news estimates, more than two million Americans crossed the Canadian and Mexican borders as refugees, while others banded together to combat the Ever After Purgers. The fight continues, with neither Canada’s nor Mexico’s borders protected, and not even the New Founding Fathers of America are safe. The film concludes on a positive note, with massive numbers of people taking up weapons against The Purgers to put an end to the horrors.
The movie leaves us on a dystopic and chaotic note because even though many people have managed to escape when Canada and Mexico had opened their borders, millions could not and had to resort to fighting as a result. Everything has been turned upside down in this movie, and Mexico has become a safe haven. And now people are going in that direction, and everything is upside-down. As a result, it’s a fun way to look at things. The satire and imagery are both strong, things that we have come to expect from Jason Blum. The ending leaves us on a cliffhanger where we ask the all-important question, What happened to America?
While this movie was supposed to be the grand finale for the franchise, it looks like we have yet another instalment coming our way which will pick from the complete chaos and anarchy that this movie has ended in. There are multiple possibilities in the sixth movie. This one however, keeps you hooked with its storyline, first and then the constant gory violence and bloodshed. Those bunny mask wearing killers have been haunting my dreams since I say the movie. All in all, this one is a fun watch and I am so glad that its not the end for the horror, satire franchise.