Marisa Tomei, from “Spider-Man: Homecoming” to “The First Purge” (Opens Aug 22)

She recently delighted audiences as Peter Parker’s Aunt May in Marvel Studios’ and Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man: Homecoming. Now, Marisa Tomei stars as brilliant psychologist Dr. Updale, the architect of the annual Purge, in Universal Pictures’ new suspense thriller The First Purge.

In the film, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) tests a radical sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community, in order to push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of the marginalized, the contagion will explode from the trial-city borders and spread across the nation.

Now that the NFFA has taken charge of the American political landscape, change—no matter how draconian—is assuredly coming. When Dr. Updale (Tomei) perceives the chance for a risky and theoretical experiment to become an actual one, the Architect of The Purge itself finds a shot at lasting legacy for the country she claims to so love.

When it came time to casting the Architect of The Purge, the production wondered who would be the ideal Dr. Updale, a brilliant psychologist who feels she is using her gifts for societal good…only to realize the horrific impact of what she began.

A researcher who has analyzed how humans have behaved throughout history, Dr. Updale hypothesizes that we are inherently violent. She posits that instead of fighting it, it might be easier to go with it and allow people to express their inherent violence for one day, then contain it for the rest of the year.