Monday, June 10, 2013

The Purge

America, 2022. Unemployment is at an all time low, crime rates are even lower. Why? Because as part of America’s restructuring, for 12 hours once a year, all crime is legal. Rape, maim, murder, steal – anything is fair game. The theory is that, if everyone is allowed to “purge” for 12 hours, they will get it out of the system and be squeaky clean for the rest of the year. And it’s working.  For the other 8,753 hours of the year, people behave. The Purge works, and those who don’t take part in it better damn well support it.

So explains the Sandin family. James (Ethan Hawke) designs home security systems and has grown rich as a result of Purge-inspired security upgrades. When he arrives home on Purge night, his wife Mary (Lena Headley) has prepared a nice dinner for their family, including spitfire teenager Zoey and creepy 10-year-old Charlie. The Sandins are one of the many families who don’t participate in the night’s crime, instead opting to lock up tightly and count the hours until dawn.

The 7 p.m. Purge time approaches quickly, and the Sandins arm their seemingly impenetrable security system. It only takes a few minutes for things to go very wrong. 
Early into The Purge, Charlie is monitoring his home’s many security cameras and spots a black man screaming for his life in the middle of the street. Without much hesitation, Charlie disarms the system and let’s the disheveled, beaten man into his home. Now, while I understand that this is a horror film rooted in a fictional premise (a very interesting fictional premise), this act is my only real problem with the film. First off, why the hell would a 10-year-old kid have access to such an elaborate security system? Especially when that kid spends much of his time questioning the need for The Purge? But a movie like The Purge isn’t meant to be scrutinized so heavily. It only asks that you suspend disbelief for 85 minutes and attempt to enjoy yourself. Fair enough.

With the man now in the house, a group of young, preppy, articulate, charming white kids (not unlike the young, preppy, articulate, charming white kids in Michael Haneke’s similarly themed Funny Games) descend on the Sandin house and kindly ask its patriarch to release the “human scum” they are harboring. No need to explain further, your imagination (or your $12 ticket) can help fill in the rest.
The actual plot of The Purge isn’t nearly as compelling as what the film says about our society. Haneke has noted on several occasions that he made Funny Games as a way to throw our obsession with violence in our faces. His movie is structured in a way that forces the audience to participate, whether they like it or not. The Purge is the same way. In fact, I’d bet most everyone who watched this film spent part of its running time imagining what they would do if The Purge really existed.

The movie itself is simply okay – an above average horror flick, mostly because of its intriguing concept. The wonder of The Purge is its ability to force us to think what we would do. Maybe you’d steal. Maybe you’d kill your boss. Maybe you’d bash your neighbor’s nose with the butt of a shotgun. Maybe you’d do nothing. Either way, you’re thinking about it. B

18 comments:

  1. Solid, I thought this was alright. Not quite as good as I had hoped for, but it was alright. My main problem was with Charlie. That kid was just so annoying, I mean, I guess I can understand you not liking/agreeing with the idea of purging and letting in a man asking for help into your house; but it's like why in the world would you help him hide once your entire family was threatened? He just aggravated the living hell out of me. I do have to praise Rhys Wakefield for his "polite stranger" role though because I thought he was genuinely quite creepy. It's weird because I remember seeing him in his first movie, The Black Balloon, where he was this nice, well to do kid helping out his mentally challenged brother but in this he just gave me the creeps. So big props to him, seems like he has a nice range and is really talented - hope to see more from him in the future!

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    1. Yeah, we agree all the way here. I think Charlie was meant to be annoying, but for a number of reasons, that performance didn't work for me. It was so annoying, it was distracting.

      On the other hand, Wakefield... wow, did that guy just kill that role. So very creepy. Definitely seemed like he was taking a note from the actors in both Funny Games, which is totally cool. I really liked what he did there.

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  2. reallywish it culd have delve deeper into our societal issues, but i thought it succeeded most as an above average home invasion thriller.

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    1. Yeah, I'd agree with that. Maybe the sequel will dive deeper. I mean... there's definitely going to be a sequel, right?

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  3. Man, every time I read about what The Purge is about (these past few days especially), I get chills. I feel as if it's a brilliant idea. I kind of wish it was a book though, is that bad? Like, you read a movie's synopsis and you wish it were rather a book based movie than an original movie script. I've never had this feeling but reading the plot and the idea behind purge just gives me that deep desire to grab for the book.

    That being said, I can't wait to watch the movie!

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    1. You should write a book based on the idea!! Seriously, it could be the basis of a thrilling novel.

      The movie is pretty solid. I honestly can't believe no one thought of it before.

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  4. Yeah, the concept is very intriguing, and I'm a fan of Ethan Hawke's work, so I'll check it out.

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    1. Hawke is pretty much awesome in it. He really carries the film though its faults. Good stuff.

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  5. Seeing this this weekend! So excited. And I was already annoyed by Charlie since the trailer. I would have thrown his ass out to the wolves, just saying.
    Disappointed to hear the story did not delve deeper into the main theme. Still a fascinating premise.

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    1. I never even watched the trailer. That's hilarious that he's annoying in it. Fuckin' kids, man.

      Believe me, the movie is a solid horror flick. Not bad by any means. Let me know what you think of it!

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  6. Heard this did well in the US, no idea when/if Australia will get it. Sounds interesting man.

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    1. This movie KILLED here. It exceeded its cost ten times over (literally) in three days. That's sensational. Hope you have a chance to check it out soon.

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    2. Haha damn! That's why I must have heard about it so much. Will keep an eye out, I hate horror films though! (Well, I say that, but I usually find them very scary, which I guess is good :P )

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    3. Ha, well, this one is kind of scary, but not really. I did dig it though.

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  7. The idea sounds amazing but kinda tricky - I mean how would that even work? People would surely want to retaliate if someone hurt them, it doesn't seem plausible that they would wait for another Purge to do that.

    I'm probably going to see it for Lena Headey, I heard she is not playing a badass in this one and I'm curious about that. She is so good playing villains, I wonder how she does with less spectacular characters.

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    1. Well (and believe me, I'm not making an effort to be a Purge apologist here), they try to make it clear that the people being purged are the homeless "scum and filth" (their words) that live in America. It's assumed that rich people don't walk around killing rich people, you know? But, yes, while watching it, I was like, "Fuck waiting for another purge, I would straight up kill these people the first chance I got."

      Implausible definitely, but I'm just thankful it's a different idea.

      Headey is solid in this movie. No doubt.

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  8. I really liked the idea of the film, but they went in a totally different direction than I'd thought. Once I saw the trailer I knew it wasn't going to be as compelling as it could've been. Sadly, yet another good idea tossed to the side (I'm looking at you, Chronicle).
    If this film had taken place outside of the house, I think it would've been a hell of a lot more interesting. That's the idea I had when I first heard about the premise, then I saw the trailer and was like ehhh.

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    1. I agree. And, who knows, maybe they'll do that with the sequel. I imagine their budget will double (or triple) with the sequel, which may let them go outside. They really could do wonders with this premise.

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