The First Purge aims to answer a lot of the major questions that were posed by the original
trilogy.
What kind of economic and social decline might lead to such a vicious event in the first
place?
What nefarious political underpinnings could assure that the so-called Experiment would
succeed?
If we thought the New Founding Fathers of America were depraved before, we hadn't seen
anything yet.
Even so, The First Purge still leaves quite a few stones unturned.
Here are some of the biggest questions left unanswered by the film.
Consider yourself warned, there are spoilers ahead.
Tactical training
Dmitri might lead a life of crime, but he also has a lot of talents.
He handles himself quite well against the special ops-type forces on the ground during
the Experiment and has obviously been trained.
Everything from marksmanship to martial arts to tactical wartime skills for scouring buildings
under siege and planting explosives is in his skillset.
Where he learned all of these things is something of a mystery.
There's a vague mention of his combat experience when he and his team of street soldiers recognize
a mercenary symbol tattooed on their foes' lifeless bodies, but that's pretty much the
whole story about his ultra-convenient capabilities.
How he manages to be not only as good as this gaggle of hired guns storming the city, but
good enough to defeat a dozen-plus of them at once, is simply left to suspension of disbelief.
Experimental controls
The NFFA's spokesman and Experiment "architect" Dr. Updale are publicly working together on
the first Purge and seem to be on the same team.
But behind the scenes, their interests differ significantly.
She's only in it to prove her point that people need to exercise some lawlessness once a year
to function properly as a society.
But he wants this to work and catch on because it'll ensure the continued rise of his new
political party.
"This country needs for this to work."
Once he starts sending in hit squads to increase the body count, she realizes she has no power
over the Purge.
Dr. Updale often describes the Experiment as an exercise in psychology, but her lack
of actual oversight or physical control undermines that idea right away.
Is she purposely dense about the true nature of the night and blindly trusting of the NFFA,
or does she actually believe this is how to run a controlled behavioral experiment?
In either case, her collegiate credentials really need to be reviewed.
Lambs to slaughter
The NFFA isn't satisfied until the bloodshed begins.
They believe the best way to reduce unemployment and poverty is to let those poor people take
themselves out.
What's not clear, though, is why it takes graphic violence to make the Experiment a
bankable success where the public is concerned.
The NFFA's spokesman believes that without a bunch of bloodshed, the organization won't
be able to expand the Purge into a national event because it won't be attractive to outsiders.
The scenes of cultural unrest seem to show the exact opposite, though people are marching
for better treatment, not to maim one another in the streets.
So, wouldn't financial crimes be more attractive to them?
Why is violence such a selling point to the public?
You'd think seeing scenes of so much bloodshed might make people wary of having the Purge
reach their own neighborhoods.
Wouldn't it make more sense to aim for some of the nation's other low-income areas for
expansion first?
Blood money
A surprising number of people agree to stay in Staten Island during the Experiment, despite
the possibility that they might fall victim to whatever untold madness lies ahead.
Part of the reason is that everyone is promised $5,000 if they stay put, with even more compensation
for those who actually go out and participate in the ruckus.
But a lot of those people do perish, and it's not clear what will become of their earnings.
If Purge participants go down, do their loved ones still get their money?
Do people who don't plan to purge, but end up doing so, get paid as well?
For that matter, does anyone actually get paid in the end, or is that all just another
one of the NFFA's lies meant to raise the body count?
And speaking of the NFFA's trickery, what happens to all the mercenaries and drones
they called in to raise the stakes in the first Purge anyway?
Does the public's own thirst for violence render them unnecessary later on, or is the
party caught cheating their way into a bigger death toll and forced to do away with them?
Enemy unmasked
Dr. Updale puts a pretty face on the Experiment and presents the concept as one of societal
self-betterment.
In her mind, if people can live and let die a little every now and then, they'll be better
citizens overall.
"What have I done?"
The NFFA sees it differently, of course; if they can push this Purge process far enough,
they can essentially exterminate enough of the underprivileged population to re-grow
the economy without openly resorting to government-sponsored genocide.
Naturally, that's not the NFFA's public posturing, but does the party ever lift the veil on what
they're really trying to accomplish as things move forward?
It would certainly make sense that they do, given the racially suggestive diatribe of
the "Polite Leader" in the original Purge film.
If not, it's also unclear how they might manage to disguise the Purge's true intention, considering
the fact that the Experiment is televised, with a lot of the NFFA's hitmen wearing white
supremacist garbs in full view.
America first
America might not be quite so beautiful once the Purge fully takes hold of society, but
the concept does eventually reduce unemployment and crime rates by the time the first film
picks up several years in.
In The First Purge, we're treated to a few news reports about how other First World nations
like Germany start sanctioning the United States ahead of the initial Experiment and
refer to it as "barbaric."
The question, then, is whether the annual Purge ever gains steam in other nations as
a result of its economic impact.
Do those who doubt it eventually decide to participate themselves, or does the United
States continue to remain isolated and ostracized by its former allies as a result of its newfound
penchant for practical violence?
Perhaps the upcoming Purge TV series will fill in some of these blanks.
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