The Forever Purge is a 2021 American dystopian action crime horror film directed by Everardo Valerio Gout and written by series creator James DeMonaco, who also produced along with Jason Blum and Michael Bay. Originally intended as the final installment, it serves as the fifth film in the Purge franchise and a sequel to 2016's The Purge: Election Year. The film stars Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda, and Will Patton, and follows a group of people who attempt to escape from the United States after an insurrectionist movement continues committing crimes and murders nationwide after the 2049 Purge's ending.Delayed from an original July 2020 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Forever Purge was theatrically released on July 2, 2021, by Universal Pictures. The film grossed $77 million worldwide against its $18 million budget and received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its performances and action sequences but criticism for its writing. A sixth film is currently in development.
Plot
In 2048, eight years after Charlene Roan's presidential election, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) has been re-elected and have re-instituted the annual Purge with its original rules. Racial supremacy and nativism have surged nationwide following their re-election, and many outside the ruling party are concerned that the upcoming Purge will inflict more damage on the country than the NFFA realizes. Mexican couple Juan and Adela illegally cross the border into Texas to build a new life near Austin, with Juan working as a farmhand on the Tucker family ranch while Adela works in town.
Ten months later, on the eve of the 2049 Purge, Juan and Adela join a migrant community behind a walled sanctuary with armed security to protect them. As the Purge begins, Adela witnesses a nationalist Purger group, who declare themselves to be the Purge Purification Force (PPF), intent on killing those people that they consider non-American. The migrant community survives the Purge with no incidents. Come morning, Juan and Adela return to their jobs, but both notice that many of their co-workers did not report to work. Adela is attacked by two self-proclaimed Forever Purgers, but she is rescued by her boss Darius before both are arrested by police for killing their attackers.
Juan and fellow migrant co-worker T.T. discover that the Tucker family has been taken hostage by their white farmhandsForever Purgers intending to take the ranch for themselves. Patriarch Caleb Tucker sacrifices himself and distracts the Purgers long enough for Juan and T.T. to rescue his son Dylan, Dylan's pregnant wife Cassie, and Dylan's sister Harper. As they drive off to search for Adela, the news confirms that civilians nationwide, connecting via social media, have declared a Forever Purge, opposing NFFA orders to stand down.
The group rescue Adela and Darius from Purgers. Darius stays behind to search for his family while the others escape from a burning Austin. At a gas station, they hear news reports that, to protect non-Purger civilians, Canada and Mexico have opened their borders for the next six hours, following which the borders will close and entry would be denied. The group decide to escape across the Mexican border at El Paso.
By the time the group arrives in a chaotic El Paso, the NFFA has invoked martial law across the United States in an effort to contain the violence. Fighting through El Paso, Adela and Cassie are split from the group by military forces while Juan, T.T., Dylan, and Harper are captured by the PPF, with their Alpha Leader offering Dylan and Harper a chance to live if they kill T.T. and Juan. When they refuse, the Purgers murder T.T. just before the military intervenes, allowing the group to escape. However, the military is forced to withdraw from El Paso when their base is destroyed by more Purgers. In response, the Canadian and Mexican governments announce the early closure of their borders, leaving those who gathered to cross them vulnerable to the Purgers.