10 Dark Films For Dark Times

Always assuming it’s not another example of “fake news” (or an early April fool joke), the Washington Post recently reported that President Trump’s legal team is attempting to trademark the slogan Keep America Great for use in his 2020 re-election campaign, perhaps not realizing that it was the slogan for a movie about a dystopian future.

Your typical story about a female Senator who ends up fighting for her life on a night when all crime is legal, The Purge: Election Year also used the taglines Purge For Your Liberty, I Purged and Purge For The Power. The film’s trailer opens like an campaign ad, with smiling Americans proudly announcing, “I purged because it’s my civic duty!” before cutting to scenes of riots, beatings and shootings.

“The soul of our country is at stake,” announces Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), who wants to do away with purging altogether. Little does she realize that some angry male colleagues are planning to “do something about that Senator”, so before long she’s running through crime-infested streets asking herself, “My God, how did it come to this?”