The Purge: Election Year
Added How We Rate
- Directed by
- James DeMonaco
- Written by
- James DeMonaco
- Produced by
- Andrew Form, Sébastien K. Lemercier, Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Brad Fuller, Couper Samuelson, Luc Etienne, Jeanette Volturno
Why it’s HorroRated
Subtlety is not on the ballot this time, and the movie is better for owning that. Mykelti Williamson steals scene after scene as a deli owner priced out of his Purge insurance, Betty Gabriel brings real grit, and Grillo's weary bodyguard gives the chaos a steady center. Building the story around a presidential race sharpens the series' satire of American spectacle, with costumed Purgers turning the capital's avenues into a lurid carnival. The speeches can sound like campaign ads and the villains are cartoons, but anyone who wants their horror angry, loud and tuned to the headlines will have a good time.
Synopsis
Washington, D.C., becomes the battleground in The Purge: Election Year (2016), James DeMonaco's third Purge film as writer and director, set in 2040 during a presidential race that could end the annual night of legal killing. Elizabeth Mitchell plays Senator Charlie Roan, the candidate pledging to abolish it, and Frank Grillo returns as Leo Barnes, now in charge of her protection. Mykelti Williamson, J. J. Soria and Betty Gabriel play a shopkeeper, his employee and an emergency medic whose paths cross with theirs. Shot largely in Rhode Island, which stood in for the capital, it is a political action thriller wearing horror-movie masks.
Filed under
Where to watch The Purge: Election Year
- Subscription
- Prime Video · Peacock
- Rent or buy
- Prime Video · Apple TV · YouTube · Google Play · Fandango at Home
Streaming in the US changes often. Listings from JustWatch via TMDB, checked October 27, 2026.See every option
Quick facts
- Release date
- June 29, 2016
- Runtime
- 1 hour 49 mins
- Country
- France, Japan, United States of America
- Language
- English
- Content rating
- R
- Entry type
- Movie
Content notes
- Gunfights and brutal killings
- Strong language




