The Purge: Anarchy – not for the faint-hearted

This is James DeMonaco’s sequel to last year’s box office hit, which caught everyone by surprise. Now the writer-director has come up with a better, tenser version that will appeal to action junkies everywhere.

This sequel is set in the same world as the first film, but a year later. DeMonaco has thankfully avoided regurgitating the home-invasion elements that characterised the original by taking the action to the streets and creating a vicious dog-eat-dog scenario.

It’s a powerful survival tale with a disturbing message. The hero (Frank Grillo) is not unlike the characters played by Schwarzenegger and Stallone in the eighties, being a tough, no-nonsense individual with all the fighting and weaponry skills to stay alive.

Still of Keith Stanfield in The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

It’s 2013 and America has changed dramatically. The Founding Fathers who rule the country have put into place a strict social policy that has resulted in great prosperity – but at a cost. Every March 22 for 12 hours criminal law is suspended. People can do whatever they want, even murder, without fear of being caught and going to prison.

If you can suspend belief at this outrageous concept then you’re on your way and you’ll meet a broad spectrum of humanity. The main character is an unnamed sergeant played by Grillo, out on Purge night to exact revenge on the man who killed his son. His plans are ruined, however, when he decides to save four people who are stranded outside. They are a mother, Eva (Carmen Ejogo), daughter, Cali (Zoe Soul) and a husband, Shane (Zach Gilford), and wife, Liz (Kiele Sanchez).

The focus is on these five characters as they make their way through treacherous streets and subway tunnels on their way to a safe house.