The Forever Purge creator James DeMonaco has spoken of how discord during Donald Trump’s time in the White House informed the narrative of the film.
The screenwriter, director and producer, who has written all five films in the dystopian horror series, said recent unrest in America had “seeped” into his work.
The latest instalment in the Purge series sees the 12-hour purge, during which all crime including murder is temporarily legal, extended indefinitely by a group of insurrectionists.
DeMonaco told the PA news agency it was “inevitable” that real-life events would influence his work.
He added: “I always say this, first and foremost I’m trying to create just really horrifying horror films – a great dystopian horror action thriller that can play to a wide audience.
“But the purge is a political theme. It’s a socio-political theme.
“So the world at large, especially the American political landscape, inevitably seeps into everything I write and is unavoidable.
“The first part was written under the Obama administration.
“The new Purges have been written under the Trump administration.
“So all the discord that came up over the last couple of years specifically really came to the forefront, definitely informed this piece from beginning to end.”
DeMonaco said the decision to evolve the film from a 12-hour purge, like its predecessors, to a “forever purge” was initially made to develop the narrative.
However, he suggested it ended up serving a metaphorical purpose.
“I had the idea we just continue the virus of violence and pent up anger,” he said.
“We can’t contain it any more, once you introduce it as a conceit into the body politic.
“What it now has become a reflection of is something else in the citizenry where there is a lot of anger.”
Referring to the Capitol insurrection of January 6, he added: “There’s many different parts of society that are feeling fed up and it boiled over and as we saw on January 6, people are not feeling served by their government.
“And that anger – I can’t say that I intended the conceit to mirror the body politic at this present time.
“I wrote this two years ago, but it is really strange how it’s paralleling it.”
The Forever Purge is released in cinemas on July 16.