The Purge – Movie Review

“Blessed be the New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls, Blessed be America, a nation reborn.”

This is the motto America lives by in 2022 as set by their new government. Unemployment and crime are at an all-time low and the government wants to allow people to have a release of all the hatred and anger they keep inside. As a result, they assign one night per year named The Purge in which all crime is legal and emergency services are unavailable for 12 hours from 7pm to 7am the following morning.

The Purge was released in 2013, and is a social science fiction action horror film written and directed by James DeMonaco.

The film focuses on one particular family, the Sandins. Normally on Purge night, the Sandins lock down their home with a high security system which James Sandin (played by Ethan Hawke) produces and sells.

However, this specific Purge night is different. A man, known as ‘The Stranger’ and played by Edwin Hodge , was shot in the street and is let inside the large family home by the Sandins’ worried son, Charlie, played by Max Burkholder. A group of people eager to release hatred and murder the man show up on the Sandin’s doorstep and demand the release of the man. If he isn’t released they will break into the house and kill the entire family.

The Sandins don’t release the man, and the group of people wearing smiling masks intrude the home and terrorise the family.

I think the storyline has an interesting concept and encourages the audience to think what they would do if they were in this situation. However, I feel like the execution from the actors was not believable, and it came across scripted and a little corny. I think the movie had the potential to have in-depth meaning behind it, as well as an unexpected ending, but I found myself predicting exactly what would happen.

It’s disappointing to say the above, but the movie isn’t all bad. What I did like about the film is the ‘The Stranger’ character. He has a very minimal script, yet plays a significant role on the feeling of the movie and how it concludes.

I rate this film 2.5 out of 5

Written by Alison Hattley