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Watch order

The Purge movies in order

Use this page for the purge movies in order—James DeMonaco’s Blumhouse/Universal run from The Purge (June 7, 2013) through The Forever Purge (July 2, 2021), including the 2018 prequel The First Purge. Release stays US theatrical ship order so the original home-invasion hit still lands first. Story rewinds to the Staten Island experiment, then 2022 → 2023 → 2040 → 2048. The USA Network series is cancelled-adjacent homework and FAQ-only. Dystopia neighbors include The Hunger Games; horror shelves include Saw and Halloween.

Updated September 2026

Pick your path:

Release order Story chronology Core trilogy Full release list

Where to start

Pick Core trilogy for The Purge plus Anarchy plus Election Year, Release order for every US theatrical including the prequel in 2018, or Story chronology if you want The First Purge before the 2013 film. Essentials filters Release; Story-tab years still explain the prequel jump.

  • Newcomers → core trilogy (Ethan Hawke house, then Grillo, then the election)
  • Chronology-first → Story tab, or the Story chronology essentials path
  • Prequel last → keep Release order so 2013 still shocks before you see how it started

Release order

When each Purge film opened in US theaters—The Purge (June 7, 2013), Anarchy (July 18, 2014), Election Year (July 1, 2016), prequel The First Purge (July 4, 2018), then The Forever Purge (July 2, 2021). Best 2026 first watch: the original three in premiere order, then decide on the prequel and the 2021 finale.

  • First watch 2026 → The Purge → Anarchy → Election Year, then optional prequel and Forever
  • Completionist Release → all five theatricals in US premiere order (prequel is fourth)
  • Prequel curiosity → watch The First Purge after the original, or use Story if you want 2017-first
  • Skip the TV series on both tabs—two seasons, not required before Election Year
Story order tips

In-fiction years, not ship dates: The First Purge (Staten Island experiment, 2017) → The Purge (2022) → Anarchy (2023) → Election Year (2040) → The Forever Purge (2048). Same five films; the 2018 movie moves to the front. The TV series sits between Anarchy and Election Year in some guides—FAQ-only here.

  • 2017 → The First Purge (Staten Island test night)
  • 2022–2023 → original Purge then Anarchy (home, then streets)
  • 2040 → Election Year (Charlie Roan / Leo Barnes)
  • 2048 → The Forever Purge (Purge that does not stop at dawn)

Timeline

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When each season premiered in the US. Expand a row for dates and where it fits in your watch order.

Release order

  1. The Purge

    The Purge

    TheatricalStreamingCore trilogyLive-action

    James DeMonaco’s 2013 hit locks Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey’s Sandin family inside a fortified home on Purge Night—twelve legal hours of crime, a bleeding stranger at the door, and the NFFA’s smiling “American” ritual.

    Overview
    High-concept home-invasion: one night, one house, a nation that legalized violence as civic hygiene. Low budget, brutal marketing, and a rule-set (7 p.m. to 7 a.m., March 21–22) every sequel still quotes.
    Related games
    Set in 2022, years after the experiment shown later in The First Purge. Release-tab opener; Story parks it second. No shared plot with Saw—parallel “rules horror,” different killers.
    Where it fits
    Start here on Release and for the core trilogy. Watch before Anarchy. You can postpone the 2018 prequel forever if you want the original shock intact. Not a closed one-and-done if you care about Leo Barnes.
    Premiere dates
    US theatrical release June 7, 2013 (Universal / Blumhouse). Later home video and streaming. Platforms: Theatrical, Streaming.
  2. The Purge: Anarchy

    The Purge: Anarchy

    TheatricalStreamingCore trilogyLive-action

    DeMonaco’s 2014 sequel puts Frank Grillo’s Leo Barnes on Los Angeles streets during the next Purge—class warfare, roaming death squads, and a resistance broadcast that makes the night bigger than one gated house.

    Overview
    Opens the franchise from home-invasion to city survival. Leo becomes the series’ recurring human weapon, and the NFFA’s “crime goes down” slogan starts looking like a cull of the poor.
    Related games
    Fiction year 2023, one Purge after the Sandin night. Story follows the 2013 film (and the prequel if you used that tab). Next core title is Election Year, not The First Purge.
    Where it fits
    Second core-trilogy film. Watch after The Purge. Required before Election Year if you want Leo’s arc. Skip only if you bounced off the concept after the first movie.
    Premiere dates
    US theatrical release July 18, 2014 (Universal). Later home video and streaming. Platforms: Theatrical, Streaming.
  3. The Purge: Election Year

    The Purge: Election Year

    TheatricalStreamingCore trilogyLive-action

    DeMonaco’s 2016 third film jumps to 2040: Elizabeth Mitchell’s Senator Charlie Roan runs against the Purge while Grillo’s Leo runs her security—an election-night gauntlet that was meant to feel like an ending.

    Overview
    Turns the annual night into a campaign issue. Roan’s childhood Purge trauma and NFFA assassination politics give the trilogy a civic climax the house movie never attempted.
    Related games
    Fiction year 2040, long after Anarchy. Some guides slot the TV series in the gap—this page does not. Story next is The Forever Purge; Release next is the 2018 prequel.
    Where it fits
    Third core-trilogy film and a satisfying stop for many viewers. Watch after Anarchy. The Forever Purge is a later continuation, not required to “finish” Roan’s election night.
    Premiere dates
    US theatrical release July 1, 2016 (Universal). Later home video and streaming. Platforms: Theatrical, Streaming.
  4. The First Purge

    The First Purge

    TheatricalStreamingPrequelLive-action

    Gérard McMurray’s 2018 prequel (story by DeMonaco) tests the Purge on Staten Island in 2017—Lex Scott Davis, Y’lan Noel, Marisa Tomei’s NFFA architect, and a “social experiment” that is already a hunt.

    Overview
    Origin night: not yet national, already rigged. Drug-war aesthetics and a community-vs-mercenaries structure show the Purge as policy toward poor neighborhoods, not a neutral pressure valve.
    Related games
    Earliest fiction (2017 test). Release-tab fourth movie; Story-tab first. Does not star Hawke or Grillo. Optional after the original three if you liked the world and want the Staten Island root.
    Where it fits
    Watch after the core trilogy on a first pass, or first on Story if chronology matters more than surprise. Skip freely if you only wanted the 2013–2016 three. Not a substitute for Anarchy.
    Premiere dates
    US theatrical release July 4, 2018 (Universal). Later home video and streaming. Platforms: Theatrical, Streaming.
  5. The Forever Purge

    The Forever Purge

    TheatricalStreamingSequelLive-action

    Everardo Gout’s 2021 fifth film (DeMonaco script) starts on a 2048 Purge Night and refuses to end at dawn—Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta’s migrant workers, border flight, and nativist gangs who keep killing.

    Overview
    Breaks the 12-hour contract. The horror becomes an ongoing ethnic purge rather than a sanctioned holiday, which is why this chapter feels like a new cycle after Roan’s election, not Election Year Part 2.
    Related games
    Fiction 2048, eight years after Election Year. New leads; Leo and Roan are not the spine. Release and Story agree it is last among the five films. TV series still not required.
    Where it fits
    Watch after Election Year if you want the late world-state. Skip if the core trilogy already satisfied you. Does not need The First Purge as a prerequisite, though Story-watchers will have seen it.
    Premiere dates
    US theatrical release July 2, 2021 (Universal), after a pandemic delay from 2020. Later home video and streaming. Platforms: Theatrical, Streaming.

FAQ

Release vs story, whether to start with the prequel, the core trilogy, the TV series gap, and Forever Purge as a late chapter.

Watch order

Prequel & TV

Only on a chronology binge. For a first watch, start with 2013. The prequel explains the Staten Island experiment, but it also spoils how calculated the “holiday” always was. Story tab exists for the 2017-first path.

USA Network’s The Purge (2018–2019, two seasons) sits between Anarchy and Election Year in many world-guides (roughly 2027, then a 2030s jump). This page leaves it FAQ-only—not a Release or Story title. Skip it; the films still parse.

What’s included

More timelines

Other release-order and story-order guides on this site.