It’s time once again for America’s favorite holiday dedicated to crime and wearing creepy masks! It’s The Purge!

In three short years it’s become an annual horror tradition; The Purge, from writer/director James DeMonaco. Set in a dark alternate universe where the United States has become a police state and enacted an annual “Purge Night,” where, for 12 hours, all crime (“including murder!” the announcements always helpfully add) is legal. In the latest installment, The Purge: Election Year, a U.S. Senator (Elizabeth Mitchell) with a past ruined by the Purge runs for President on a platform of ending the sadistic ritual. Those in power don’t love that idea, though. Guess what happens on Purge Night! The Senator becomes a target, and it’s up to Frank Grillo’s Sergeant Barnes (from 2014’s The Purge: Anarchy) to keep her alive long enough to change society for the better. Here’s the official plot synopsis:

It’s been two years since Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) stopped himself from a regrettable act of revenge on Purge Night. Now serving as head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), his mission is to protect her in a run for president and survive the annual ritual that targets the poor and innocent. But when a betrayal forces them onto the streets of D.C. on the one night when no help is available, they must stay alive until dawn ... or both be sacrificed for their sins against the state.

Combined, the first two Purges cost just $12 million; they’ve grossed more than $200 million worldwide. So I’m going to guess this Senator’s quest to purge the Purge goes about as well as my attempts to get my birthday declared a national holiday. How do you make a Purge 4 or Purge 5 if the Purge gets outlawed? No, my money (and Universal’s money) is on the Purge continuing for the foreseeable future. (Unless they go with a prequel next? But that’s just asking for trouble.) This installment of The Purge comes out July 1.

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