Billed as the final Purge film, The Forever Purge, written by franchise creator James DeMonaco, follows the political horror saga into a post-Purge America, where a gang of masked marauders in Texas refuses to stop their violent carnage the day after the morning sirens sound closing out the last official Purge Night.
Talking place after the events of The Purge: Election Night, this brutal final bow is centered around a Mexican couple, on the run from a drug cartel, who get stranded on a Texas ranch. Starring Ana de la Reguera (Army of the Dead), Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico), Josh Lucas (Yellowstone, Glory Road), Cassidy Freeman (Smallville, Longmire), and Leven Rambin (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), The Forever Purge will take us inside an even more chaotic Purge universe than usual, showcasing a violent cult that refuses to give up its annual night of sadism.
IGN spoke with Forever Purge director Everardo Gout (Marvel’s Luke Cage, Nat Geo’s Mars) about this final chapter’s new masks, new heroes, fresh setting, and…whether or not it’s truly the last Purge film.
Is it Really Farewell?
As far as Gout knows, and lining up with everything the public’s been told, this is the last hurrah for the Purge films. But never say never, right? “Definitely when they approached me they told me it was the final chapter,” Gout explained, “as far as what makes sense for the story. But, you know, James [DeMonaco] is super creative so I’m sure he could come up with new ideas. But yes, in intent, it is the last. And also in the scope and intensity. But I wouldn’t be surprised if after this one there’s another idea.”
“I was definitely not interested in doing another Purge movie,” Gout added, “I wanted to do the final act of a Purge universe. That’s what was appealing about The Forever Purge. It’s a different surrounding. It has a lot of different elements. A lot of it takes place using the daytime. The scope of it is completely different. That was all very enticing to me. And the characters too. The point of view of the people who we’re going to experience this through, that was very original I thought.”
From what we can see in the new trailer, a cruel cabal of cowpokes decide to keep purging after the closing sirens, terrorizing everyone they see in an attempt to keep the violence going after the annual allotment of hours. “The way we approached it with James, and this was before the pandemic hit so I feel a little ridiculous saying it, but I always felt the Purge was like a virus,” Gout shared. “That’s how we approached it. Like you have violence enacted on yourself, then you exercise revenge. And therefore you hurt someone else who will then want to hurt someone else. So it’s like a virus spreading and so once you establish that and understand that, even daylight can be scary. Because it’s not about hiding in the shadows, it’s about confronting the true terror of violence. Hopefully, it’s more frightening because it feels more real.”
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What The Purge Means Nowadays
The Purge series, which has been holding a dark mirror up to our own society since 2013, has sadly only gotten more relevant, now hitting closer to the bone than ever. And even though The Forever Purge was filmed long before the January 6 Capital Riot, the film holds an eerie predictive element in that it’s about violence from people who are angry over election results. So how does one balance the thrills and chills of a Purge film with the overall political satire? “I think that if you’re successful, the right balance is that you want to make a movie that’s thrilling and exciting and filled with horror elements and then you hide the vitamins inside the cake,” Gout said.
“I think this is a movie where when you see it, you’re thrilled, you’re entertained, you’re on the edge of your seat, and it feels refreshing and new while still honoring the code of the Purge so Purge fans won’t feel alienated, like ‘what the f*** happened to the Purge?’ So it’s still the Purge but it’s definitely elevated. Ideally, you go through this fresh, exciting ride, and then when you leave the theater you don’t dump the movie like you dump the remainder of your popcorn in the trashcan. You take it with you. And then you think about it. There are images that will come back. There are topics that will come back. And that’s the successful part of it, I think.”
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Mask Up
The Purge series is known for its bone-chilling masks and attire worn by those exercising their right to commit heinous acts of violence. From the “God” mask in The Purge: Anarchy (which would make a big return on the Purge TV series) to the Statue of Liberty mask in The Purge: Election Year, the evil outfits donned by the devilish deviants in these movies have become iconic imagery for the entire franchise. In The Forever Purge, it’s important that “they’re a representation of the topics you want to talk about in the movie and they have to be endemic to the place where you’re setting your movie,” Gout noted.
“For this film,” Gout continued, “James wanted to explore the connectivity between animals and human beings and how there’s a real echo in both worlds. There’s a lot of animals in this movie, like horses and roosters and ranch animals. It’s all purposefully done. So that was a point of reference. Like, who becomes the food of who while the Purge is unleashed?”
Our Forever Purge Heroes
Gout, who is Mexican, was not only interested in making the final movie of the Purge franchise, but also a film that was authentic to the Latino experience. “I didn’t want a white-washed version of the Latinos who are the protagonists in the movie,” he said. “And for us, for Latinos, when we go to the movies, when we see a Mexican with an American accent it’s very upsetting. So I wanted to steer this away from all of that and I pitched Tenoch Huerta who I had done a movie with, which gave him his Mexican Oscar, and I said ‘this is my man.'”
“He was the actor I wanted and I told Universal that until they proved to me he wasn’t the right guy I wouldn’t watch any more casting tapes,” Gout laughed. “And it panned out because he’s amazing and he’s going to do the Avengers next (Huerta will be part of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). This being my first Hollywood movie I needed to bring my guy with me, and this was his first Hollywood movie too.”
“And Ana [de la Reguera] is a dear friend and amazing actress. I love what we did with that character. She’s a true protagonist and she’s not the usual very young Latino who you’d see in a Hollywood movie. She’s a heartfelt, intelligent, late-30s woman. A full-grown woman who can kick some ass. And I think there’s a lack of that type of character in movies. They’re either super young or grandmothers. There’s nothing in between. I wanted to bring that more forward because it’s closer to reality. And Josh Lucas is amazing too. And it’s a nice balance between the Texans and the Latinos and how they have to come together to survive this dystopian world. That’s what’s interesting. At the end of the day, we have to come together to survive.”
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