'The Purge: Election Year' Trailer: When Horror Imitates Politics

The third installment in The Purge horror franchise isn’t merely trying to scare moviegoers by depicting a potential future where murder can be committed without consequence for a 12-hour period. No, this time, with The Purge: Election Year, writer-director James DeMonaco is trying to do that while also being politically relevant.

As the newly released trailer reveals, the movie has gone out of its way to mirror current events, focusing its action on a female senator (Elizabeth Mitchell) who is running for president (gosh, this sounds familiar) on a platform that promises the end of the Purge. Before she can get elected, though, the annual Purge has to take place and, hey, guess who becomes a huge target? Juliet Burke from Lost, that’s who!

Frank Grillo, who played police sergeant Leo Barnes in The Purge: Anarchy, returns and is now serving as the senator’s head of security, which means he gets to say things like, “Someone betrayed us” and “This is not a drill.”

Just in case the parallels to what’s happening in the real-life election don’t immediately resonate, the trailer also flashes the words “Keep America Great” across the screen, in an obvious homage to the Donald Trump campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” The trailer doesn’t say that if you fail to see The Purge: Election Year the terrorists win, but that’s clearly implied.

The movie is set to open in theaters on the day that’s about nothing but American greatness, July 4.