In the scene where Dylan Tucker is securing his family during the Purge, we see him use
an app based security interface. The UI is clearly the same as the interface of the Sandin Security
system seen back in the first movie. There have been many references to Sandin Security since
then. The company is never mentioned by name here, but it’s clearly supposed to be the same
system. To learn some of the interesting secrets hidden around The Yeehaw Purge,
or as you may know it, The Forever Purge, stick around to the end of this video.
(METAL MUSIC)
It’s the Purge!
The Yeehaw Purge! I still can’t believe they didn’t
call it that. Huge missed op. The Forever Purge doesn’t even make that much sense.
Most of the characters in the movie call it The Ever After Purge. Not The Forever Purge.
So THE YEEHAW PURGE was written by series creator James Demonaco and directed by
Everardo Valerio Gout, who had mostly worked in TV. His previous film was an award winner at the
Mexican Academy of Film, so he was probably seen as a good choice to be able to direct
a movie with scenes that contain English and Spanish interchangeably. The use of language
actually relates to one of our Things You Missed, so let’s get in -- to the cosas que te perdiste.
(YEEHAW rodeo music)
Early in the movie, we see the border wall between the US and Mexico,
which now blocks citizens from being able to see into the other country, unlike the current
wall which has slits. This is probably done to increase the feeling of division and tension
between the two nations. It goes along with the graffiti seen later: Build bridges, not walls.
It also allows people to deface the wall with graffiti, some of which is kind of impressive.
This American flag has the hammer and sickle from the old USSR flag, suggesting that someone
wants to see the US transition to communism. The government in power during the Purge movies is
the NFFA, or New Founding Fathers of America. They are portrayed to be objectively evil, but they are
clearly not the type of evil that subscribes to communism. For example, the NFFA thrives
on division between different levels of income, while communism looks to eliminate the free market
entirely. So this symbol suggests the emergence of a new group, which we see before long.
The opening titles show animated scenes of the USA, with each becoming corrupted with
red splatters and scary imagery. One of these shows a good ol’ fashioned American barbecue,
and the guests become corrupted with purge masks, one of which
looks just like Kimmy’s mask from The Purge Election Year.
Also, there’s one that I find funny. We see this street front with shops
like Victoria’s Bakery and Kyle’s Dress Boutique,
but when it glitches out it just becomes Kyle’s DIE. Now that sounds like somewhere I would shop.
We learn that the NFFA has been voted back into power again. And this is where I need
to pause the analysis for a little rant. The last movie chronologically before The Yeehaw
Purge was The Purge Election Year, where we saw Senator Charlie Roan win the election,
thus ending the NFFA’s reign of power. But at the very end, there’s an uprising.
– [TV announcer] We’re just now hearing reports about a few scattered incidents around the
country where NFFA supporters are reacting violently to this defeat,
they are burning cars, breaking windows, looting, attacking police officers --
– And then it just ends, the movie ends. Then they did a prequel,
then they did two seasons of the TV series, which both took place before Election Year.
So all of this time, we’re waiting to see what happened after the election. Finally,
they announce The…
The Yeehaw Purge!
And it looks like it’s going to be about groups who
refused to stop purging. I thought it was gonna take place right after Election Year. But it’s
not. It’s years later. President Roan would have been in power from 2040 to 2044. In the US you
can serve a maximum of two 4-year terms, so if she was re-elected, she’d last until 2048. Our
only real clue about the date in The Yeehaw Purge is this poster for a Purge Week BBQ on Friday,
March 19th. It doesn’t matter if Roan served one or two terms, the first time March 19th lands on
a Friday is the year 2049. Yes, The Purge has now caught up to Blade Runner and San Francisco Rush.
This is what future tech looks like in Blade Runner 2049. Here’s what it looks
like in The Purge 2049.
Transportation in Blade Runner.
Transportation in Purge. I’m
sure the real 2049 will fall somewhere in-between,
but still, we’re getting scammed out of potentially cool sci-fi elements.
Anyway, in America we ended up not having to wait for a Purge movie to
show us what it looks like when people refuse to accept losing an election,
and that is as much time as I’m willing to spend on that.
Our main characters this time are Juan and Adela, who are illegal immigrants looking
to get away from the drug cartel in their home country. We see Adela making a great
effort to learn English. Everything in their house is labeled with sticky notes containing
both the English and Spanish words. Sink, dish, curtains, toaster, flower pot, plants,
television, and others. She scolds Juan for not putting in the same effort that she does…
– [Adela] Please, where are we? You need to practice your English!
– And she listens to an audio program that seems to teach her what to say if she ever gets caught.
– [audio program] Repeat after me. I was just visiting friends in Texas.
– She’s even seen with a book called English Fast Track Learning For Spanish Speakers,
though it would make more sense if the title of the book was in Spanish,
considering the target audience wouldn’t understand English until after reading the book…
The reason I bring all of this up is because the language barrier comes into play at the end
when Adela is captured and forced to call her people for help in order to lure them
into a trap. She calls out in Spanish, and he demands she speak English so he can understand,
but she refuses. As a result, her friends are able to save her. Usually in a movie,
the main character goes through a character arc, where a character is
one way at the beginning and undergoes a change that allows him or her to overcome an obstacle.
In The Purge, James Sandin learns that a stranger’s life is just as
valuable as his family’s and gives him a chance to live. In Anarchy,
Leo Barnes realizes that revenge on his son’s killer will not make him feel
better about the loss. Adela almost has like a reverse-character arc, because she basically
goes back to the way she was before the movie. It feels kind of backwards.
Dylan has more of a traditional character arc. At the beginning wants his culture to
stay separate from Mexican culture, and he’s envious of Juan’s cowboy skills. At the end,
he has to work together with Juan and he finds that he is now the one crossing the border and
integrating into Mexican society. In that sense, he’s actually a lot like Leo Barnes in Anarchy,
who started off wanting to be a lone hunter, but ended up being saved by his new friends.
There are a lot of loose homages to previous Purge movies. One example is Chiago Harjo.
Early on we see him on TV preaching the truth about how the Purge is not effective
at releasing anger. Later on he meets with the main characters and helps escort them through
danger. He’s filling the role of Carmelo Johns in Anarchy, or Dante Bishop in Election Year;
the revolutionary that our characters see on TV and later meetup with to receive assistance.
By the way, his broadcast about how the Purge actually only increases anger,
and does not decrease it, is an echo of the research done by Professor Drew Adams
in The Purge: Season 2. Chiago doesn’t specifically mention Professor Adams,
but we can assume he is referencing her study, which the NFFA unsuccessfully tried to cover up.
Like in past Purges, there is a lot more we can learn from looking at
some of the small details hidden in the graffiti and artwork around the city.
(impact)
(mysterious music)
The immigrant character Adela works in a butcher shop. You may have thought about how this feels
representative of The Purge, which temporarily turns the entire country into a butcher shop.
In fact, the logo features two knives coming together, different, but also reminiscent of the
clash of knives seen on the official NFFA seal which first appeared in Anarchy. This idea is
further touched on at the beginning of The Purge. As everyone locks down we cut from the ranch,
where all the cattle are herded together in the dark, to the passengers on the bus full of
potential purge victims. It’s very symbolic of how human lives are treated like cattle in this world.
The bus, by the way, says Lemercier Public Schools
on the side. It’s named after one of the producers, Sebastien K Lemercier,
and this isn’t the first time there’s been a Purge easter egg to reference him.
– This right here, is an original Lemercier.
– Overall, the NFFA takes a back seat this time thanks to the rise of the radical group,
The Real Patriots of America. I’ve talked a lot in my Purge videos about how the
NFFA is always associated with the color blue, which matches the color of the blue
baptisias. In the world of The Purge, people put these flowers out to show support for The
Purge. We only see one example in this movie, maybe a sign that the NFFA is losing favor.
On the contrary, the New Patriots of America logo is red, they probably made that choice so
they can be viewed as enemies of the NFFA. I also noticed that the emergency broadcast screen is red again.
They have also reinstated immunity for government officials ranking 10. Guess they didn’t
like their President getting killed too much in Election Year and decided to roll that one back.
We don’t see much of the blue baptisias this time, but there’s a new flower of importance: the red
roses. Our characters are told to follow the roses if they get into trouble in America. Being red,
they symbolize safety, whereas the blue flowers symbolize violence. I’ve talked before about how
this is the opposite of what you’d expect, which is probably why the NFFA chose blue, to deceive
people. These can be seen throughout the city. It’s established that they guide our characters
to safety, but what isn’t immediately obvious is how directions are hidden in each painting.
This one is part of a mural with a one way sign, telling them to go right. The next
one has a grim reaper pointing to the left. This poster shows a Lucha Libre
wrestler pointing up and to the right. The stem of this rose extends into an
arrow pointing left. All of these signals lead them to the neon rose at the end.
There are other relevant pieces of street art. When everyone arrives at the safe zone,
I noticed artwork of a giant pair of eyes with a gunshot in between. The Purge TV
series featured lots of eye graffiti as a symbol of the NFFA’s dystopian
surveillance. This area is essentially the new underground triage center from Election Year.
The intercutting between it and the more comfortable conditions of the ranch family
relaxing at home show how The Purge affects different social classes much more than others,
an idea that has been heavy in the series ever since the first movie.
It seems the Florida man meme is one of the many things that hasn’t changed by 2049. The line that
the broadcaster leaves us with before going off the air is also a significant reference.
– [broadcaster] Good night, Texas. And good luck.
– [Zac] It’s a nod to the 2005 movie, Good Night and Good Luck.
– Good night, and good luck.
– Yeah, that’s the one. I talked earlier about the communist symbol appearing on the American
flag on the border wall. Good Night and Good Luck is all about a group of journalists who
try to expose the truth about the American politician Joseph McCarthy, who was making
reckless and unsubstantiated accusations of communism around the time of the Cold War.
The trailer for Good Night and Good Luck describes America during this period as a “a nation
terrorized by its own government”, certainly, not a far cry from what’s going on in The Purge, only
under very different circumstances. Good Night and Good Luck deals with the integrity of the media,
which is not really an aspect of this particular Purge film. There’s no journalist character in
the movie. The only somewhat relevant beat is when the NFFA announces that anyone displaying the Ever
After Purge flag will be arrested immediately, which of course would be unconstitutional in
the United States, because it would violate freedom of speech. A lot like how McCarthy
tried to silence his critics. The journalism aspect might be relevant if the filmmakers
are trying to give themselves a pat on the back; essentially saying that they are making a brave
statement through their art. The last few Purge films have gotten more and more pointed towards
aspects of the real life USA political situation. Again, not really interested in getting into that.
So let’s talk about franchise callbacks. As this Purge begins, we see scenes of purging happening
around the city, as we often do. Here there are a bunch of men tracking victims with dogs,
as seen during Anarchy. This dude gets dragged behind a motorcycle,
something we saw in The First Purge. Then there’s this firing squad set up right outside a church.
The firearms go off right as the church bells strike midnight. This is an example
of Midnight Purge Mass, which we were first introduced to in The Purge: Election Year.
The saddest part about 2049 is not the Purge, but the fact that we
still don’t have protected bike lanes. Get it together America!
Later on there’s also an encounter with this guy with a swastika on his face, as kind of a
spiritual successor to Earl Danzinger, the neo-nazi from Election Year. He refers to the
gunshot sounds all around them as “homegrown music from the heartland.” I think he’s meant
to signify the attitude of some gun enthusiasts; the idea that it becomes a recreational activity,
like listening to music, and they may lose sight of how dangerous these weapons actually are.
We meet this guy inside the police van which is rounding up Ever After Purgers. In typical Purge
fashion, this van gets rolled over. That’s basically tradition at this point in this
franchise, it happened in Election Year and in Season 2. One tradition they seemed not to uphold,
however, was having a character named Sabien. Then there’s this:
(horsey jump scare)
Yes, they really did try to make a jumpscare out of literally just a horse walking. LOL. Then we’ve
got my favorite guy. His name’s Kirk. The Yeehaw Purge! Then there are some not so great guys,
like this man in the high vis vest. Not exactly great for sneaking around during
Purge. He also uses a mallet as his weapon, even though it seems very easy to get guns
in this world. Guess this dude’s playing on hard mode. As were the motorcyclists
who thought they could challenge a big truck. Not a battle you’re gonna win.
The characters realize their best bet is to seek asylum by crossing the border
back into Mexico. I’m not gonna talk about the Dracula, Frankenstein and Psycho appearances,
because they’re not even references. They’re just there. But 99K USD is a damn good deal
for a luxury condo, especially considering inflation by 2049. What a deal. I wonder if you
can walk from there to the festival in Central Park. Better check website.com to find out.
One of the things I like to do is scan all the graffiti in the Purge films and
see if there’s anything interesting written. In my video on Anarchy,
I talked about how they took a shot at Hollywood film producer David Neustatder, by making a man
named David Neustatder be one of the Purge victims found in the street. In this one,
there’s a message that reads: Kill David Dead. There’s probably no connection… but if there is,
wow! They’re still not over this are they? The mystery deepens.
Anyway, the Native American Chiago is gonna help them get across the border,
but not before we stumble upon a few more eye opening details.
(impact)
(mysterious music)
An interesting detail about the finale is that The Forever Purgers don’t need masks anymore,
but a couple of them continue to wear them anyway. I think it’s generally accepted
that the purpose of the masks is to hide the Purgers’ identities, because after The Purge,
you gotta go back to work, and even people that participated are ashamed. But with
the Ever After Purge, they aren’t planning on ever going back to normal. Perhaps some
were confident that it really would last forever, while others were not.
But they do have these hats though. How much you want to bet these are
the same hats that they gave the cast and crew?
We hear a new chant from the Purgers.
– Purge and Purify, ever after.
– [crowd] EVER AFTER!
– Actually, it’s more of a twist on an old classic. We first heard chants of Purge
and Purify in Election Year. These anti-NFFA radicals have taken a motto from the NFFA,
and twisted it into something of their own. I think it’s meant to be a parallel to groups that
latch onto one political idea and fester into their own little cult, or whatever.
The battle rages on. This guy thinks he’s in a Legend of Zelda game with the bomb arrows. As our
characters get closer to the border, the purgers close in on them. There’s a Wilhelm Scream.
(scream)
If you aren’t familiar, the Wilhelm Scream is a funny sound effect found in many,
many movies, usually when a character falls down or gets shot or something. It’s named
after a character named Private Wilhelm from the 1953 Western film,
The Charge At Feather River, which used it over and over.
(screams, over and over)
You can find compilations on YouTube that show just how many movies, shows and games have sampled
this sound. So I was absolutely shocked that this is the first Wilhelm Scream I’ve pointed
out on Things You Missed. I guess it kind of makes sense… it’s a very silly sound effect,
so it’s probably not that likely to be used in horror movies. This is a horror channel.
I guess it’s fitting that the sound became famous in a Western, and I’m
introducing it in this Purge movie with Western elements. We should start a Wilhelm counter.
(Wilhelm scream)
We’ll see if we ever revisit that. Anyway, the characters make it across the border,
and Dylan and Cassie are able to safely have their baby.
– It’s a girl. Do you want to hold your daughter?
– [Zac] I’m sorry, WHAT? What the **** is going on here? Do they not know how this works? Did
they just run out of pink hats? How do you run out of pink hats?
This was supposed to be the last movie in the franchise,
but it answers nothing and it really just raises more questions. In fact
the first thing we hear during the credits is “this isn’t over.”
– What will the new America look like
when this all ends? – ♪ This isn’t over! ♪
– [Zac] It wasn’t long before James Demonaco suddenly had an idea for a new Purge movie, and reportedly,
it went into development. It’s pretty clear now that we were lied to about The Yeehaw Purge being
the last movie, but honestly, I’m kind of glad. This next one will allegedly bring Frank Grillo
back. He’s the guy that plays Leo Barnes. That’s something that I wanted for this movie, and it
wouldn’t be right to close things out without a proper conclusion to the Leo Barnes trilogy. I’d
also like to see the adult Charlie Sandin, the kid from the first one. He’d be in his 40s now. He’s a
character who lived most of his life in The Purge era, lost his father in The Purge at a young age
and has been shown to be selfless the last time we met him. He could be a useful character to turn
to as the country continues to fall apart. As for villains, Joe Owens and Godhead 2.0
from the TV series are, as far as we know, still alive. They are among the most powerful villains
we’ve ever seen and they could easily be side villains that work alongside one final threat.
I am probably hyping this up too much, we’ll probably JUST get Frank Grillo, but when The Purge
returns so will I. With another episode of Things You Missed. Click the playlist on the left for all
of my Purge analysis’ and remember to subscribe to CZsWorld for new horrors every week, ring the
deathbell and select all notifications and I’ll see you in the next one. Assuming we both survive.
(spooky dance music)