What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe First Purge
Film · 2018
If you loved The First Purge, start with The Passage (Justin Cronin, 2010) — a book on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The First Purge across media.
If you enjoyed The First Purge, you will appreciate these stories that examine how systemic cruelty transforms societal structures into arenas for survival.
Books on the same thread
The Maze Runner (Book 1)
James Dashner · Book · 2014
Shares a thread with The First Purge: Survival.
Much like the trapped community in The First Purge, these characters face a lethal environment where survival depends on navigating a rigged system designed for their destruction.
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins · Book · 2008
Explores: authoritarianism, class inequality, spectacle of violence.
The First Purge shares this focus on the spectacle of state-sanctioned violence, where marginalized people are forced to participate in a cruel game for political control.
The Passage
Justin Cronin · Book · 2010
Explores: Government Conspiracy, Child Protagonist, Chosen One.
Just as The First Purge explores the catastrophic fallout of a failed government experiment, this story highlights the horrific consequences when military ambition overrides human life.
Inferno 2033
Michael Compton, Allan J. Walsh, Sherry J. Compton · Book · 2016
Explores: Totalitarianism, Surveillance State, Xenophobia.
This narrative mirrors the political corruption found in The First Purge, illustrating how a radical regime uses fear and social engineering to consolidate power over its citizenry.
Series on the same thread
Psycho-Pass
Series · 2012
Explores: Moral Ambiguity, Technological Determinism, Social Control.
If the social control tactics in The First Purge gripped you, this look at a society that pre-emptively punishes citizens based on potential criminality will resonate deeply.
The Terror
David Kajganich · Series · 2018
Shares a thread with The First Purge: Survival.
The First Purge masterfully crafts an atmosphere of desperate isolation, a tension that is perfectly mirrored in this series where environmental hazards push humanity toward primal madness.
El marginal
Sebastián Ortega · Series · 2016
Shares a thread with The First Purge: Survival.
The First Purge centers on the vulnerability of those trapped within a corrupt system, a feeling echoed here as a man infiltrates a lawless prison to expose corruption.
Prison Break
Paul T. Scheuring · Series · 2005
Shares 2 threads with The First Purge: Survival, Political Corruption.
The First Purge explores the fight against an oppressive state, a struggle that drives this story as a man navigates a broken justice system to secure freedom.
Podcasts on the same thread
1619
The New York Times · Podcast · 2019
Explores: systemic racism, national identity, legacy of slavery.
For those interested in the real-world roots of the systemic oppression depicted in The First Purge, this series provides essential context on the foundations of inequality.
Kill List
Podcast
Explores: Dark Net, Murder for Hire, Technological Crime.
The First Purge highlights the terrifying ease of turning violence into a commodity, a theme explored here through the chilling reality of anonymous murder-for-hire on the internet.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The First Purge a prequel to the other films?
The First Purge serves as the origin story for the series. It depicts the initial sociological experiment conducted by the New Founding Fathers of America to test the theory of venting aggression in an isolated community to lower the national crime rate for the remainder of the year.
What is the primary goal of the experiment in The First Purge?
The New Founding Fathers of America initiate the experiment in The First Purge to push the national crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year. They test a sociological theory by allowing aggression to be vented for one night within a single isolated community.
Does the violence in The First Purge stay contained to the trial city?
The experiment in The First Purge fails to remain contained. When the violence of the oppressors meets the rage of the community members, the contagion of violence explodes past the trial-city borders and begins to spread across the entire nation.
Who conducts the experiment seen in The First Purge?
The New Founding Fathers of America are the organization responsible for conducting the sociological experiment featured in The First Purge. They authorize the trial in an isolated community to see if venting aggression for one night effectively reduces the crime rate for the rest of the year.