American Nightmare 3 : Élections
Original title: The Purge: Election Year
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
116K
YOUR RATING
Senator Charlie Roan and her head of security must survive an annual night of terror where all crime is legal.Senator Charlie Roan and her head of security must survive an annual night of terror where all crime is legal.Senator Charlie Roan and her head of security must survive an annual night of terror where all crime is legal.
- Awards
- 6 nominations total
J.J. Soria
- Marcos
- (as Joseph Julian Soria)
Liza Colón-Zayas
- Dawn
- (as Liza Colon-Zayas)
Brittany Mirabile
- Schoolgirl #1 Freakbride
- (as Brittany Mirabilé)
- …
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is running for President on a platform of ending the Purge. Her family was massacred during the Purge in her childhood. The NFFA revokes the Purge rule protecting high rank government officials but Roan refuses to add security. Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) from the previous movie is now her head of security. Store owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) is informed that his Purge insurance has been canceled. Roan is betrayed and escapes with Barnes into the streets where they are hunted.
This tries to add politics to what started out as a simple horror franchise. It's making social commentary. The world of the Purge continuous to be expanded. There are fun Purge visuals. There are some fun action although I wouldn't call it a scary horror. It goes down some weirder paths which is interesting. One thing holding it back is that there is only one possible good ending and the movie would ignore it to its detriment. Roan has to die.
This tries to add politics to what started out as a simple horror franchise. It's making social commentary. The world of the Purge continuous to be expanded. There are fun Purge visuals. There are some fun action although I wouldn't call it a scary horror. It goes down some weirder paths which is interesting. One thing holding it back is that there is only one possible good ending and the movie would ignore it to its detriment. Roan has to die.
2016. A presidential election year. Both in reality and on the big screen – with high stakes AND what seems to be an increasing amount of insanity working its way into the process. 2016 marks the second time the GOP is lead by a candidate mainly known for his accomplishments as a businessman, the third time with a candidate named Clinton heading the Democratic ticket – and the third time for a story about an annual 12-hour period at the beginning of spring during which all crime is legal – even murder.
As many questions as have been raised by the first two iterations in "The Purge" film franchise, writer-director James DeMonaco (accomplishing the rare feat of creating three movies in a single horror series) manages to find even more questions to ask in "The Purge: Election Year" (R, 1:45). For example, might such an annual event attract foreigners who would like to get away with murder for a night? (Yes. They're called "murder tourists".) Does insurance cover property against purge night destruction? (Yes. But they might hike up their rates at the last minute, even beyond what people can pay.) Is it possible for a politician to turn back the clock and end the annual purge? (Maybe. But it wouldn't be easy.) Senator Charlene "Charlie" Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is an Independent candidate for President running primarily on a promise to end the purge, mainly because of seeing her entire family murdered on an earlier purge night. She has the backing of a guy who actually has her back, her head of security, former police Sergeant Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), who was stopped from nearly carrying out a revenge killing on a more recent purge night and now hates the brutal tradition almost as much as Roan does. Although there is a growing anti-purge movement, including a group led by Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge, the only actor to appear in all three of the films), there are a lot of powerful people who want the purge to go on.
On this purge night, the usual ban against killing high-ranking politicians is lifted. That puts Roan's life in danger. It also exposes the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) to being targeted themselves, but they have the money to hire plenty of security with plenty of firepower. When the NFFA turn their considerable resources against Roan, she finds herself on the run in the streets of Washington DC, trying to survive the night so she can (hopefully) win the election and make this the last purge night ever.
As the usual purge mayhem unfolds around them, Barnes and Roan are saved from certain death by deli owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) and his loyal employee, Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria). With their help and the help of purge night triage vehicle operator Laney "Little Death" Rucker (Betty Gabriel) and (later in the movie) Bishop and his followers, Roan and Barnes just might survive the night but it won't be easy and it may cost the lives of some of the main characters. NFFA leaders like Caleb Warrens (Raymond J. Berry) and Minister Edwige Owens (Kyle Secor), Roan's opponent in the presidential election, have money, influence, superior technology and ruthless thugs like Earl Danzinger (Terry Serpico, looking like an evil Anthony Michael Hall) to help bring their nefarious plans to fruition.
Like the pervious "Purge" movies, "The Purge: Election Day" is surprisingly entertaining and deep. The first film explored the idea of income and class inequality taken to extremes, but it just felt like an interesting one-off. A 2014 sequel added more action – and made the franchise's theme more obvious (especially late in the movie), while adding the subplot of growing popular resistance to the purge. The third film throws its message right in the audience's face, but what it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in even better story-telling. The plot is multi-faceted, but not overly complicated, and features some interesting twists along the way. Some of the characters are over-acted, parts of the script are unnecessarily crude and there's a distracting amount of blood and gore, but "The Purge: Election Day" gives Movie Fans plenty of engaging action and biting social commentary. "B"
As many questions as have been raised by the first two iterations in "The Purge" film franchise, writer-director James DeMonaco (accomplishing the rare feat of creating three movies in a single horror series) manages to find even more questions to ask in "The Purge: Election Year" (R, 1:45). For example, might such an annual event attract foreigners who would like to get away with murder for a night? (Yes. They're called "murder tourists".) Does insurance cover property against purge night destruction? (Yes. But they might hike up their rates at the last minute, even beyond what people can pay.) Is it possible for a politician to turn back the clock and end the annual purge? (Maybe. But it wouldn't be easy.) Senator Charlene "Charlie" Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is an Independent candidate for President running primarily on a promise to end the purge, mainly because of seeing her entire family murdered on an earlier purge night. She has the backing of a guy who actually has her back, her head of security, former police Sergeant Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), who was stopped from nearly carrying out a revenge killing on a more recent purge night and now hates the brutal tradition almost as much as Roan does. Although there is a growing anti-purge movement, including a group led by Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge, the only actor to appear in all three of the films), there are a lot of powerful people who want the purge to go on.
On this purge night, the usual ban against killing high-ranking politicians is lifted. That puts Roan's life in danger. It also exposes the NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) to being targeted themselves, but they have the money to hire plenty of security with plenty of firepower. When the NFFA turn their considerable resources against Roan, she finds herself on the run in the streets of Washington DC, trying to survive the night so she can (hopefully) win the election and make this the last purge night ever.
As the usual purge mayhem unfolds around them, Barnes and Roan are saved from certain death by deli owner Joe Dixon (Mykelti Williamson) and his loyal employee, Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria). With their help and the help of purge night triage vehicle operator Laney "Little Death" Rucker (Betty Gabriel) and (later in the movie) Bishop and his followers, Roan and Barnes just might survive the night but it won't be easy and it may cost the lives of some of the main characters. NFFA leaders like Caleb Warrens (Raymond J. Berry) and Minister Edwige Owens (Kyle Secor), Roan's opponent in the presidential election, have money, influence, superior technology and ruthless thugs like Earl Danzinger (Terry Serpico, looking like an evil Anthony Michael Hall) to help bring their nefarious plans to fruition.
Like the pervious "Purge" movies, "The Purge: Election Day" is surprisingly entertaining and deep. The first film explored the idea of income and class inequality taken to extremes, but it just felt like an interesting one-off. A 2014 sequel added more action – and made the franchise's theme more obvious (especially late in the movie), while adding the subplot of growing popular resistance to the purge. The third film throws its message right in the audience's face, but what it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in even better story-telling. The plot is multi-faceted, but not overly complicated, and features some interesting twists along the way. Some of the characters are over-acted, parts of the script are unnecessarily crude and there's a distracting amount of blood and gore, but "The Purge: Election Day" gives Movie Fans plenty of engaging action and biting social commentary. "B"
Films don't always do so well when they mix stories with politics, particularly horror films, but in all fairness this one did the job surprisingly well. This feels like a good conclusion to the Purge series, with the upcoming first Purge explaining how it all started. This one had a story as well as the usual tales of hate and revenge. This was visually very good, some of the scenes looked great, the shop under attack scenes in particular was expertly staged. It was well acted once again, and the story was rather intriguing. It lacked some of the subtleties of the first film, and at times it did feel like we've been here before many times, but overall it was very watchable, I got the impression all involved were taking it very seriously. 7/10
I would've expected James DeMonaco to go out guns blazing, but The Purge: Election Year was an unfortunate, watered down shade of its predecessors. The elevated carnage the sequel earned praise for absolutely stagnates in this blunder of a film, as the violence felt staged & uninspired. In place of the hardcore & horrifying antics, are spoiled brats & corny foreigners playing dress up, whose inept acting earned chuckles instead of intrigue.
Sadly, where the horror fails, the writing follows suit. I concur, The Purge: Election Year's socio-political premise is sensible, but its plot pieces are as generic as it comes, wasting away the surprising emotional heft Anarchy was praised for. The poor writing extends to its under developed characters as well, leading to nonchalant responses to majority of the film's turnouts.
James DeMonaco should've called it quits after Anarchy, plain & simple. The glaring staleness of this installment, that promised a riveting closure to the well conceptualized franchise, is then a mere ineffective diversion. Sad.
Sadly, where the horror fails, the writing follows suit. I concur, The Purge: Election Year's socio-political premise is sensible, but its plot pieces are as generic as it comes, wasting away the surprising emotional heft Anarchy was praised for. The poor writing extends to its under developed characters as well, leading to nonchalant responses to majority of the film's turnouts.
James DeMonaco should've called it quits after Anarchy, plain & simple. The glaring staleness of this installment, that promised a riveting closure to the well conceptualized franchise, is then a mere ineffective diversion. Sad.
The original film in this franchise had a great premise but failed to do anything with the concept and I wasn't expecting anything with the sequel but was stunned by how much the production team developed the idea , so much so that I was genuinely excited to seeing the next film in the series which is a rare occurrence for me to get excited about upcoming film . As the trailers were released earlier in the year I did feel my excitement being negated and felt we'd be getting more of the same from a concept that with hindsight might not have much in the way of legs . Yeah the promos did feature some very topical satire about a female Senator and a right wing nutjob battaling for the future of America but seemed a little too obvious
The bad news is that's exactly how THE PURGE ELECTION YEAR plays out . You could say the studio has been honest and constructed a trailer that is refreshingly accurate and what you see is what you get but is a backhanded compliment really a compliment ? Worse than that the trailer is edited in chronological order and there's no surprises . One great thing about ANARCHY was that the story revolved around the mystery and the enigma of the mysterious violent anti-hero who had his own motives for trawling the streets during purge night . Here there's no mystery or character development . Here Sgt Leo is a knight in shining white armour saving the Senator from the fascist establishment and purgers thereby trying to save America from its extreme elements . Everything is black and white and painlessly simplistic . Everyone is good or bad with no in-between and no ambiguity involved
Being positive about this at least the dichotomy of the characterisation means no one is going to confuse the noble and genuine Senator Charlie Roan with any female politician running for President in 2016 so at least the film can't be accused of being cheerleaders for present American party politics . It also contains the occasional haunting image such as a body lying burning in a street , but there's nothing here that matches the impact of a burning bus driving along a road or the nail biting heart stopping tension of the hunting ground we saw in the second movie . Don't get me wrong ELECTION YEAR is still better than the original film and if you loved ANARCHY you'll probably like this one . The downside is that you had hoped for something a bit better and are left feeling rather disappointed by a rather predictable movie
The bad news is that's exactly how THE PURGE ELECTION YEAR plays out . You could say the studio has been honest and constructed a trailer that is refreshingly accurate and what you see is what you get but is a backhanded compliment really a compliment ? Worse than that the trailer is edited in chronological order and there's no surprises . One great thing about ANARCHY was that the story revolved around the mystery and the enigma of the mysterious violent anti-hero who had his own motives for trawling the streets during purge night . Here there's no mystery or character development . Here Sgt Leo is a knight in shining white armour saving the Senator from the fascist establishment and purgers thereby trying to save America from its extreme elements . Everything is black and white and painlessly simplistic . Everyone is good or bad with no in-between and no ambiguity involved
Being positive about this at least the dichotomy of the characterisation means no one is going to confuse the noble and genuine Senator Charlie Roan with any female politician running for President in 2016 so at least the film can't be accused of being cheerleaders for present American party politics . It also contains the occasional haunting image such as a body lying burning in a street , but there's nothing here that matches the impact of a burning bus driving along a road or the nail biting heart stopping tension of the hunting ground we saw in the second movie . Don't get me wrong ELECTION YEAR is still better than the original film and if you loved ANARCHY you'll probably like this one . The downside is that you had hoped for something a bit better and are left feeling rather disappointed by a rather predictable movie
Did you know
- TriviaOriginally, part 3 was intended to be a prequel, telling the story of the very first Purge. This idea was scrapped when Frank Grillo accepted James DeMonaco's offer to reprise the character of Sergeant Leo Barnes. The prequel idea was used for the next film in the series, American Nightmare 4 : Les Origines (2018).
- Goofs(at around 51 mins) During the store break scene, candy girl is run over by a van and passes under the van. Her boots fly off her body with the laces dangling as they fly away from her body. When the driver steps out of the vehicle to shoot her, her boots are back on with the laces still tied.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Conan: Aubrey Plaza/Frank Grillo/Pierce the Veil (2016)
- How long is The Purge: Election Year?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- 12 horas para sobrevivir: el año de la elección
- Filming locations
- Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA(Location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $79,213,375
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $31,515,110
- Jul 3, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $118,587,880
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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