Does This Translate, Pendejo! - Juan from the Forever Purge
Some of the recent films these days are attempting to interpret actual socio-political situations in the world. The forever purge is not an exception. This franchise directed by Evardo Gout is trying to bring the political topic from early of this year into the cinema. First aired in June, this movie received mixed reviews with an overall 5 IMDB score.
Is it distasteful, poorly written, rage inciting, low effort but attempting to be meaningful, I’ll let you be the judge in the comment section.
For now, I will tell you a little bit about this movie.
The story starts with some description about racial tension and nativism in the US after the re-election of the New Founding Father. Set in Texas, Adela and Juan, a married couple from Mexico, are crossing the border to the US via a secret tunnel. They attempt to build a new life in the US away from Mexico where they are chased due to fighting the cartels.
As soon as they arrive in the US, Juan works in a ranch owned by Tucker’s family. In that ranch, there are two more workers, TT, a latino and Kirk an American. In this ranch, they started bringing the topic about who gets to be a cowboy and what it means to be a proud American. Dylan, a proud cowboy, feels threatened about Juan’s ability to handle the horse. There is tension between the two of them but Dylan’s dad tells Juan that it’s fine and he mentioned that he doesn’t know what is a proud American again.
A few hours before the purge starts, Adela is going back to her place. On the way, she spotted some rednecks and a symbol which later shows as the Purification Purge Force who tries to clean the “brownie” in the US. Shortly after, when the purge starts, Adela, Juan, and TT hide in a safe house guarded by some armed forces. They are paying some amounts of money so that they are safe from the purgers.
When adela goes outside to catch some fresh air, they spot some people passing by and saying some ultra right-wing talk that mentions they want to clean the US and make America, American again. Then Adela holds a sniper and points it to one of the van’s. In that van, there was a black man being tortured by the PPF. She wants to shoot the van but the armed guy warns her that it’s not a good idea for her and the people inside.
It is 7 AM when the purge is finally over, or at least they thought. Then, finally people keep shooting. Dylan’s ranch is also targeted by Kirk, who wants to take over the ranch as he wants to switch position from being poor into a rich ranch overlord. Juan, who goes to work, saves the Tucker family from Kirk and meanwhile Adela is caught by the sheriff as she is trying to save herself from being killed by the purgers.
After Kirk’s killed Dylan’s father, Juan and Dyla’s family unite together and they are moving to the city to find and save Adela. Dylan is hesitant but he has no other choice. Besides, Juan and TT save their lives.
Inside the sheriff’s van, Adela is being held with 2 other people with one having a swastika tattoo on his cheeks. He mentions the types of guns that are used during the purge and calls it the sound of America.
Reversed Refugee
Shortly, Adela reunites with Juan and the rest of the group. During the night, Juan tries to talk to Dylan about why he dislikes him. Dylan mentions that it’s not because he’s Mexican but he believes that everyone should live with their own people and not bother one another. Then, Juan replies that they are now together under the same mission to be safe from the purgers. However, later in the story Juan and the group meet with the Alpha leader of the PPF. Dylan and his sister are fine but the PPF leader targets the “brownie” with TT ends up being shot in the chest and dies.Finally though, Juan and the group get to Mexico as they open the border for Americans who are fleeing the country. So, now Americans are refugees in Mexico.
Critiquing the current situation under the theme of survivalism.
This movie's political topic is a bit distasteful. It's doing a bad job in attempting to portray the situation in the US and perhaps just increase the racial tension even more.As someone who often follows the political news and keeping myself up to date with it, there were plenty of references to dialogue from the previous administration. There are some memorable quotes that I remember from this movie which is “another day, another dollar” which seems an attempt to illustrate the capitalist nature of the US. So, this movie is trying to critique the current situation under the theme of survivalism.
I think if you are uncomfortable about seeing the racism happening in the movie, I don’t think you should watch this film. But if you want to watch it because you need to pass the time, this could be your choice. I somewhat enjoyed the movie because I originally liked the franchise. I could say this was the one that I liked more than the previous purge movies. Even compared with the two, at least this one has a bit more intriguing topic in the movie.
 | Mac is a content creator that covers literature, books, technology, philosophy, nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than those, she is passionate about cooking and travel. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. |