Every horror movie franchise eventually tells an origin story, whether it’s ‘Paranormal Activity 3’, ‘Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare’, or a frankly alarming number of ‘Halloween’ installments. It’s a time honored tradition, and one in which ‘The Purge’ is finally preparing to participate. In fact, while in-depth origin stories sometimes undermine other franchises (by robbing their villain of mystery, and thus making them less frightening), ‘The Purge’ could arguably benefit from such an installment, given the series often explicitly political overtones.
To that end, we have the upcoming fourth installment. Originally announced as ‘The Purge: The Island’, it has since ditched the colon and received the far more evocative title, ‘The First Purge’. And speaking of “evocative,” the film’s first teaser poster has arrived, and, well, it’s anything but subtle:
Like I said. Not subtle. Though not exactly surprising either. In its own way, the series has always worn its political commentary on its sleeve. And in case the poster isn’t quite on the nose enough, they’ve also released the following synopsis:
Behind every tradition lies a revolution. Next Independence Day, witness the rise of our country’s twelve hours of annual lawlessness. Welcome to the movement that began as a simple experiment: ‘The First Purge’. To push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year, the New Founding Fathers of America test a sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of the marginalized, the contagion will explode from the trial-city borders and spread across the nation.
You can practically hear the “movie trailer guy” reading that, can’t you?
‘The First Purge’ is helmed by Gerard McMurray from a script by longtime series contributor James DeMonaco. The film stars Y’Lan Noel, Joivan Wade, Marisa Tomei, Lex Scott Davis, and Luna Lauren Velex, and is set to arrive in theaters on July 4, 2018.
