The Purge: Election Year (2016)

he Purge: Election Year is a 2016 American action horror film written and directed by James DeMonaco and starring Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Mykelti Williamson. It is the sequel to 2014's The Purge: Anarchy and is the third installment in the Purge franchise. Jason Blum and Michael Bay are among the film's producers.

The film was released on July 1, 2016, and received mixed reviews from critics. It grossed more than $118 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the series before being passed by the fourth film, The First Purge, in July 2018.

A young Charlene "Charlie" Roan and her family are tied up by a masked purger. He taunts them with his "purge playlist", and then tells them they will play a final purge game called "Mommy's Choice." He then proceeds to kill the rest of Charlie's family and leaves her as the only survivor of her family. Eighteen years later, Roan is a U.S. Senatorcampaigning for the U.S. Presidency, promising executive action to end the annual purge nights. Former police sergeant Leo Barnes is now head of security for Roan. The New Founding Fathers of America's (NFFA) and their candidate, Minister Edwidge Owens, view Roan as a threat; under the pretense of regaining public trust, they revoke immunity for government officials to kill her on Purge night.

Watching the presidential debate are deli owner Joe Dixon, his assistant Marcos, and former purger turned EMT Laney Rucker. A pair of teenage girls try to shoplift, only to be cornered by Joe. The girls mock Joe until Laney intervenes; recognizing her as a famous ex-Purger, they leave peacefully. Joe receives a call stating the cost of his purge insurance has been raised beyond affordability, prompting him to guard his store himself, despite Marcos and Laney's pleas not to. At the same time, the country's so-called "Murder tourism" booms the economy due to tourists visiting the U.S. to participate in the annual Purge nights.

As the purge begins, Joe guards his store and is joined by Marcos, repelling an attack by the teen girls seeking revenge. Laney and her partner Dawn patrol the city in an ambulance, providing medical care to the wounded. Roan decides to wait out the purge from her home rather than a secure location to secure the vote, and is accompanied by Barnes, Chief Couper, Eric, and additional security forces. However, Couper and Eric are NFFA spies who allow a neo-Naziparamilitary force led by Earl Danzinger to kill the guards and invade the house. Barnes escorts Roan to safety, but is wounded by a bullet. He detonates a bomb in the house, killing Eric and Couper.

Navigating the hostile streets of Washington D.C., Barnes and Roan attempt to seek shelter, but are ambushed by a gang of Murder Tourists. Before they can be executed, Joe and Marcos kill the gang, having seen the pair's plight from the store's rooftop. As they take shelter in the store, the teens return with reinforcements. However, Laney runs over two of them and kills half the group. As the other Purgers threaten to break in, they leave for a safer hideout. The team is ambushed by Danzinger in a helicopter, and seeks refuge beneath an overpass wherein Barnes realizes they were tracked by the bullet in his shoulder, which he promptly removes. After a confrontation with a large number of Crips, the team helps their leader's injured comrade. In return, the Crips plant the bullet in another area to divert the paramilitary team; when the gunmen arrive, the Crips eliminate them.

The team arrives at an underground anti-purge hideout run by Dante Bishop. During their stay, Barnes and Roan discover that Bishop's group intends to assassinate the NFFA, in an effort to end the purge. As Roan pleads to Bishop's partner, Angel, not to kill Owens, they are alerted by Dawn of a large paramilitary group arriving in search of Bishop and Roan. Barnes and Roan escape back to the streets and reunite with Joe, Marcos, and Laney, who had left the hideout earlier to return to Joe's store.

Barnes orders to flee from the city but on their way, the ambulance is hit by Danzinger's team. Roan is pulled from the van by the soldiers before anyone can assist. Barnes leads the group and Bishop's team to a fortified cathedral where the NFFA will "sacrifice" her. Before Roan can be killed, the group arrives and assassinates Warrens, causing a shootout that kills the entire congregation except Owens and another NFFA loyalist, Harmon James, who escape. Owens is caught by Bishop's group, but Roan manages to persuade them to spare him. The remaining paramilitary forces arrive, killing Bishop and his team. Danzinger and Barnes engage in a melee which ends with the former's death. As Roan and the team free the imprisoned purge victims, James emerges and kills a released prisoner. Joe shoots and kills him, but is fatally wounded. Before dying, Joe asks Marcos to take care of his store.

Two months later, Roan wins the election in a landslide, while Barnes is appointed the new Director of the Secret Service. Marcos and Laney renovate Joe's store, which had been looted and demolished by the surviving half of the teens' group, and continue to run it in his memory. A news report then states that NFFA supporters have staged violent uprisings across the country in response to election results and the end of the annual purge nights.