Last year’s release of The Purge shocked audiences worldwide in many ways: not only did the relatively low-budget dystopian thriller score impressively at the box office, but its concept of a chillingly realistic future society sparked a wildfire of post-movie conversations, online fan theories and haunting speculations about the possibility of a real-life “Purge Night.” Needless to say, fans hungered for a follow-up, and this summer the grander, more ambitious sequel Purge: Anarchy premiered to even more impressive numbers (taking in $110 million worldwide), expanded the Purge mythos first established by writer-director James DeMonaco to vast proportions, and delivered on the ominous promises of the original.

The basic premise, for those who have yet to experience it, involves a seemingly idyllic USA of the not-too-distant future (the first film is set in 2022), where crime has been nearly eradicated… except, that is, for one selected night of the year during which citizens can carry out virtually any crime – including murder – with absolutely no legal repercussions. The “New Founding Fathers” proclaim that “Purge Night,” a twelve-hour window from 7pm on March 21st to 7am March 22nd, allows every American a chance to unleash their animal instincts any way they like, with the rationale that they would then be more passive and law-abiding during the other 364 days of the year. The even darker side to this policy is revealed in the stipulation that high-level government officials are the only citizens who cannot be targeted during Purge Night; all others are fair game… or are they?

Even now, fans continue to debate the film’s troubling concept of government-sanctioned anarchy and self-imposed class cleansing, with many people speculating as to whether the Purge would actually work in real life… but the epic sequel poses even more ominous questions.

Own The Purge: Anarchy now on Blu-Ray

[Here be spoilers!]

While the budgetary limitations of The Purge kept the focus on the upper-middle-class Sandin family, Anarchy has fewer monetary restrictions (though the budget is still low by studio standards), and turns its unblinking eye on the vast legions of poor people who are most vulnerable to the purgers’ roving militias. By the following year (2023), a growing movement of armed anti-purge rebels seeks to expose the genocidal truth behind the New Founding Fathers’ plan, and they cross paths with a secret society of corrupt rich people who round up the poor to auction off as human targets.

Into this bloody conflict comes tormented cop Leo (Frank Grillo), who is using Purge Night to seek revenge on the drunk driver who killed his son. Though he ultimately finds himself unable to carry out his revenge, Leo’s new path as a member of the resistance is temporarily cut short after a bloody confrontation with a government death squad, and he learns the horrible secret behind the Purge: its main purpose is not to give citizens an outlet for their animal urges, but to exterminate the poor – and the Founders are working on new, more deadly efficient ways to implement their plan.

Following the recent announcement that a third Purge film has now been greenlit (with DeMonaco returning as writer and director), the buzz is already escalating to new levels, and the web has caught fire with theory and speculation about the plot of the next installment. In a recent interview, Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions told us that Purge 3 may in fact be a prequel, and might focus on the foundation and execution of the first Purge. It’s also expected that Leo will return, having barely survived the final battle with Big Daddy (he’s being taken to the hospital at the end of Anarchy), which would suggest a more direct sequel. Personally, I’d be most interested in learning about the circumstances that enabled the New Founding Fathers to seize power, amend the Constitution and implement the Purge, with a parallel plot focusing on the origins of the resistance. Anarchy opened up the landscape in so many ways, revealing more of the social chaos only hinted at in the original.

It’s not a failing of the first film that we only get glimpses of the national impact of the Purge; it’s a pretty sensible move for a film with a limited budget. Legendary directors like John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino took a similar approach to their earliest features (Assault on Precinct 13 and Reservoir Dogs, respectively), which are set almost entirely in one location, driven by dialogue and character interaction more than action sequences or special effects. While it’s obviously a practical consideration, this tactic also tightens the focus on a small group of besieged characters, and gives the film an oppressive atmosphere of claustrophobia. The Purge accomplishes a similar goal, as the steel gates covering the Sandins’ doors and windows turn their home from a high-tech fortress into a prison. In the second film, once we’ve seen the impact of Purge Night upon its most vulnerable victims – the poor and homeless – we not only witness the horrifying scope of coast-to-coast anarchy, but discover the diabolical workings behind it.

Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the Purge films is their basis in history, with murderous purges occurring in both ancient and modern times – and the prospect that history may indeed repeat itself. Back in August, a rumor spread like a virus across social media that a real-life “purge” was about take place in Detroit, Houston, Louisville, New Orleans, and several other cities. It thankfully turned out to be a hoax, but apart from a quick check on Snopes (something I do quite a lot these days), there wasn’t much information out there to dispute the possibility that it might happen… and the current climate of social unrest didn’t exactly put my mind at ease. I won’t dig into the politics of the issue, but I will say that the friction between the haves and have-nots seems to be increasing, and the fears that grow from that realization are the main reason Purge: Anarchy chilled me to the bone.

As more and more dystopian epics (e.g. The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner) are sharing high-profile attention with the franchise, Blum has revealed there could feasibly be a new Purge sequel every year. It’s an interesting prospect, but with the right scripts and more complex world-building, I think there are quite a few more stories to be told. What do you think the future holds for the Purge series, and what would you most like to see happen in the next film… and beyond? Share your views with us in the comments!