In the near future, the nation is the best it has ever been. Unemployment is down to 1%, crime is at an all time low, and America is prosperous again, thanks to The Purge: one night a year where for 12 hours, all crime is legal. Theft, rape, murder and more are all sanctioned by the government in a single unifying event meant to bring the people together. Tonight though, one family must decide if they will give up a trespassing stranger over to certain death or fight for their lives.
Ethan Hawke (Daybreakers) and Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) star in this suspenseful thriller that pits the internal rage against the eternal conscience. Written and directed by James DeMonaco (Little New York), The Purge is well conceived and very well acted by most of the cast, but unfortunately the message feels a little clouded. In fact the movie feels as if there are several messages trying to get out.
The clearest message is to beware the evil inside yourself. In a nation that celebrates this annual night of lawlessness like the Fourth of July, what may be most terrifying is how easily everyone seems to accept and embrace it. Throughout the movie some characters even refer to it as an obligation. In fact, it’s only our protagonists in the movie that seem to not see eye to eye with the rest of the country.
Lesser messages found in the movie include obvious class warfare, a government’s slippery slope into drastic measures, and the facade of suburbia. They’re all good messages that could be explored in a movie, but The Purge either gets lost trying to explain all these ideas or never knew what it was doing from the beginning.
It’s unfortunate because this movie really had a chance.
The story is still suspenseful and well shot, but never really does more than tell an average story . High spots are good performances from Hawke, Headey, and a great performance from Rhys Wakefield.
If nothing else, wait for The Purge to come out on RedBox. It’s worth a watch, but not worth theater prices.