The Purge

For other uses, see Purge (disambiguation).
The Purge

Theatrical release poster
(Hospitality Services version)
Directed by James DeMonaco
Produced by Jason Blum
Sébastien K. Lemercier
Michael Bay
Andrew Form
Bradley Fuller
Written by James DeMonaco
Starring Ethan Hawke
Lena Headey
Rhys Wakefield
Adelaide Kane
Max Burkholder
Music by Nathan Whitehead
Cinematography Jacques Jouffret
Edited by Peter Gvozdas
Production
companies
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
Running time
 85 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3 million[2][3]
Box office $89.3 million[3]

The Purge is a 2013 American social science fiction action horror film written and directed by James DeMonaco. It stars Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane and Max Burkholder. It is the first installment in DeMonaco's Purge film series. The film tells the story about a family that are held hostage during "The Purge", an event which all crime is legalized for 12 hours.

Despite mixed reviews, the film was commercially successful, grossing $89,328,627 during its run, far surpassing its $3 million budget. It was the lowest budget film to hit the top of the box office charts in 25 years before its release. A sequel, titled The Purge: Anarchy, was released worldwide on July 18, 2014 to even greater success.

Backstory

In 2022, "The New Founding Fathers of America" have established a new totalitarian government and a police state, following economic collapse. Using the 28th amendment of the U.S Constitution, the government has established one night a year – called "The Purge", which occurs on March 21 to 22, in which all crime, including rape, murder, arson, assault and theft, is legal and all police, fire, and medical emergency services remain unavailable for 12 hours from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next day. The only rules are that government officials with authorization levels of 10 and higher have been granted immunity and shall not be harmed, and all weapons above Class 4 (explosive devices such as grenades, rocket launchers, bazookas, etc.) are restricted. Anyone who breaks the "rules" of the Purge would be publicly executed by hanging. The purge has resulted in crime and unemployment rates plummeting to 1% and a strong economy. Although it is thought to be used as an act of catharsis for the U.S. populace, in reality, it is used as a method of artificial population control as the unemployed poor in slum neighborhoods are usually the main targets.

Plot

On March 21, 2022, James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) returns to his home in an affluent Los Angeles suburb to wait out the night with his wife, Mary, (Lena Headey) and their two children, Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and Charlie (Max Burkholder). James is the top salesman for elaborate security systems designed specifically for Purge Night, and the family is assured that the security system manufactured by James' company will keep them safe. Their neighbors attribute the size and fittings of the newly extended Sandins' house to his success in selling security products to them for Purge Night.

While the family awaits the start of the Purge, Zoey sees her boyfriend Henry (Tony Oller), an older boy whom James dislikes. James enables the security system, and as the Purge begins, the family disperses in their home to go about their normal routines.

Zoey returns to her room to unexpectedly find Henry, who managed to sneak back in before the security system was engaged, and says that he plans to confront her dad about their relationship. Meanwhile, Charlie watches the security monitors and sees a wounded man calling for help. He temporarily disables the system to allow the man (Edwin Hodge) into the house. James races to re-engage the system and holds the man at gunpoint as Henry comes downstairs and pulls a gun on James. Henry fires at James and misses, but James fires back, mortally wounding and eventually killing Henry. During the chaos, the man disappears and hides. James takes Mary and Charlie back to the security control room.

As James scolds Charlie, they witness a group of young adults who are wielding guns and wearing masks approach the house. Their leader (Rhys Wakefield) unmasks himself and issues an ultimatum: that if they don't surrender the man within an hour, they will break into the house and kill everyone. As the gang cuts the house's power, James is forced to admit that the security systems are only built as a deterrent and would not actually protect them against a forceful invasion. He and Mary go off to find the man, intent on turning him over, while Charlie uses a remote-controlled toy car to find him and lure him to a secret hiding space.

Zoey finds Charlie's toy car and speaks to the camera, as she knows Charlie is watching, and tells him that she will hide in his secret hiding place. The man takes her hostage, but James and Mary subdue him. The family realizes that they are no better than the gang that is waiting outside, and they decide not to turn the man over, but to fight back instead.

With their deadline having passed, the gang uses a truck to rip the metal plating off the front door and enter the house. James kills several of them before he himself is fatally stabbed by the leader. Charlie views the surveillance cameras and notices the family's neighbors leaving their homes, and fatally shooting some of the Purging gang waiting outside. Just as the gang is about to kill Mary, several of the family's neighbors arrive and kill most of the Purge gang. The leader attacks the family, but Zoey steps out from a hallway and shoots him dead.

Mary thanks the neighbors for their support, but the neighbors reveal that they are angry at the Sandins for their wealth acquired by the money the neighbors paid the Sandins with for various security products. They tie Mary, Charlie and Zoey up with duct tape, pulling them out into the hallway to kill them.

Suddenly, the man that Charlie allowed into the house earlier appears, takes one of the neighbors hostage, and kills another neighbor by shooting him. He holds the gun at the remaining neighbors and threatens to kill them if they don't untie the Sandins, which they do without hesitation. The man gives Mary the opportunity of retribution by allowing her a chance to murder the neighbors, but Mary spares them, deciding that she has seen enough killing for the night. Mary places a shotgun on the coffee table, and waits in the living room with the remaining neighbors.

After some time, the sirens go off, announcing the end of the annual Purge. The neighbors leave for their own homes. After the man leaves, Mary, Zoey and Charlie wait and watch as emergency services come to retrieve the dead.

During the credits, news reports state this year's Purge is the most successful Purge to date.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at the Stanley Film Festival on May 2, 2013[4] and released in cinemas on 31 May 2013 & 7 June 2013 in the United States.[5]

Home media

The Purge was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 8, 2013.

Reception

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes records a rating of 38% based on 135 reviews for The Purge, with a weighted average of 5.1/10, with the site's consensus stating, "Half social allegory, half home-invasion thriller, The Purge attempts to use thriller formula to make an intelligent point—but ultimately only ends up sinking in numbing violence and tired cliches."[6] The film holds a score of 41 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 33 critics, signifying "mixed or average reviews".[7]

On io9, Charlie Jane Anders described it as "a clunky and implausible political screed in movie form."[8] Entertainment Weekly gave The Purge a B−, saying that it "clearly has a lot on its mind, but it never really manages to express it."[9]

Box office

In its opening weekend, The Purge topped the box office with $16.8 million on opening day and $34.1 million through the entire weekend.[10] The film has collected $64,473,115 domestically and $24,855,512 outside the United States, for a total of $89,328,627 worldwide, with a production budget of $3 million.[3]

Sequels

Main article: The Purge: Anarchy

Due to the success of the first film, a sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, was developed by Universal and Blumhouse. It was released worldwide on July 18, 2014. Set in 2023, a year after the film.[11][12] Edwin Hodge (The Stranger) was the only cast member to reprise a role.

A third film, The Purge: Election Year, is to be released in July 2016.[13]

Legacy

The film was the theme for a scare zone in the 2013 edition of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. It was also used as a theme for a scare zone in the 2014 edition of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando. It was recently announced to be used for the 2015 edition house.

In July 2014 the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre produced the play, Seinfeld: The Purge, which parodied both Seinfeld and The Purge.[14] The play, which was written by John Ford and directed by Justin Donaldson, focused on what each Seinfeld character would do during a purge; for example, George tries to kill a former friend from the Seinfeld episode "The Couch".[15] Horror news website Bloody Disgusting gave the play "four skulls" and praised the show for its acting and storyline.[16]

Social media posts by Baltimore High School students on April 27, 2015, during the 2015 Baltimore Riots referenced the film.

The Purge film itself and the concept of it were referenced numerous times during episode 9 of season 2 of the animated show Rick and Morty, where the two titular characters become trapped on a 'purge world'.

The upcoming comedy film Meet the Blacks spoofs The Purge.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Purge' (15)". British Board of Film Classification. April 30, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (2013-06-06). "Box office: Low-budget 'The Purge' expected to beat 'The Internship'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Purge (2013) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Kit, Borys. "Ethan Hawke's The Purge to Open Inaugural Stanley Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Purge (2013) – International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "The Purge (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Warner Bros. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ "The Purge". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  8. ↑ Anders, Charlie Jane (2013-06-07). "The Purge could be this year's most hamfisted political movie". io9. Gawker Media. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Nashawaty, Chris (2013). "The Purge". Entertainment Weekly (1263): 72. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for June 7-9, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  11. ↑ "The Purge has a sequel in development". 10 June 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Universal Re-Slots The Purge: Anarchy". Deadline.com. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr. "‘The Purge’ Scares Up Third Film With Director James DeMonaco - Deadline". Deadline.
  14. ↑ "Seinfeld: The Purge". UCB Theater. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Cooper, Patrick. "What Would Seinfeld Do During ‘The Purge’?". Blood Disgusting. Retrieved 13 August 2014. line feed character in |publisher= at position 6 (help)
  16. ↑ kooper, Patrick. "[Review] Fans of "Seinfeld" Are Going to Flip for ‘Seinfeld: The Purge’". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 13 August 2014.

External links

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