'The First Purge' Writer Claims Film Reflects Our Current Society

Since the debut of The Purge in 2013, the series of films has offered eerie reflections of the real world's cultural issues, with 2016's The Purge: Election Year seemingly serving as the culmination of those similarities. This summer's The First Purge depicts how the deadly tradition got started, with series creator James DeMonaco promising the new film will also serve as a reflection of our current society.

"I think good science fiction puts a mirror up to society," the filmmaker shared with Entertainment Weekly. "What people respond to with The Purge is that it is reflecting on our times, where many people feel that they're not being taken care of. So, I think that it definitely reflects what's happening right now."

The marketing campaign has had no problem drawing similarities between the events of the film and the current political administration, as the first teaser debuted during this year's State of the Union address and with the first teaser poster using a red baseball hat embroidered with the film's title, satirizing Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. DeMonaco, however, chalks that up to the marketing department over his own plans for the film.

"Universal marketing has always — and I give them credit for this — you know, they're very subversive," DeMonaco noted. "The movies are subversive, and they've pushed the subversive angle, and they jumped on that, and I think they saw the script was subversive in a way that they could use, and they always push the political content. Is [the film] about Trump?"

The series of films depicts a society in which, for 12 hours every year, all violent crime is legal. This serves not only as a cathartic release of primal instincts for American citizens, but also culls the members of society who might not be able to afford weapons of adequate protection from others. The First Purge will introduce us to a character, played by Marisa Tomei, who is ultimately to blame for the experiment.

"She feels that a societal catharsis would be good," the writer explained. "She is a psychologist who has created the Purge, and she actually does believe it's something that society needs. It's a very angry society. She's seen a citizenry that is rioting quite often in the country. She actually believes in — it's a weird thing to say — the purity of what the Purge might do and she wants to try the experiment. She doesn't see that the government, the NFFA, who's putting it into effect has a completely different agenda."

Fans can see The First Purge when it lands in theaters on July 3rd.

Are you looking forward to seeing how The Purge began? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Entertainment Weekly]