Move over comic book superheroes. Ana de la Reguera (Nacho Libre) wants to be a cinematic hero, too.
In the horror-thriller sequel The Forever Purge, de la Reguera stars as Adela, an undocumented Mexican immigrant. Her character has escaped from a dangerous drug cartel in Mexico with her husband Juan (Tenoch Huerta) and crossed into the United States to pursue “the American Dream.” However, those dreams are cut short when a group of marauders decides that the annual Purge, a 12-hour event where all crime is deemed legal, should no longer have a time limit.
“I felt like it was a very smart script,” de la Reguera told Remezcla during a recent interview. “We always see Americans saving the world. This time, it was Mexicans!”
Since shooting The Forever Purge in 2019, de la Reguera has been surprised to see how timely and urgent it has become after the production wrapped, especially during the last presidential administration’s waning days.“A lot of the things we shot and talked about happened after [we wrapped],” she said. “Filmmakers and writers know where the world is going. I couldn’t believe I was watching a lot of the images on TV that I just shot months before.”
These images include the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, by a mob of Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn the presidential election.
“[The Capitol attack] and other things like racism and immigrants being separated – it’s been happening forever,” she said. “There is an urgency to tell a story like this. It is relevant.”
The Forever Purge debuts in theaters on July 2.
Watch the trailer below: