The Purge franchise has always served as satirical horror, even as its political elements have become more overt with The Purge: Election Year. Satire often works best when there’s a message behind it, but this is now a problem with The First Purge.
Director Gerard McMurray and screenwriter James DeMonaco have directly lifted moments from the real world, including the rise of Trump, police brutalities, the Russian collusion investigation, and mass shootings. There’s even an unmistakable joke on the “grab them by the p—y” controversy. Instead of re-contextualizing these moments or presenting a new argument, The First Purge veers so forcefully towards exploitation that its message gets lost among all the “F— you”s to the Trump administration. I’m not fully convinced there was much of a message to begin with beyond playing out a revenge fantasy on the Trump regime.
Source: IGN.com The First Purge Review