Such a poor film...

Rating: 2/10 (23 May 2018)

If anyone's written a screenplay one of the main pieces of advice to beginners is "characters dictate plot, not the other way round". This film gives hope to anyone that almost any film can get made, as it was clearly written by an amateur. The characters are one dimensional and are created entirely for plot purposes...as anyone can expect the film comes across as contrived, irrational and just plain stupid.
As others have said, the premise makes no sense. Why make ALL crime legal once a year? The film only explores murder and doesn't explore anything else so every other crime is a moot point. How does making all crime legal once a year correlate to a reduction in crime or help the economy? Why does making all crime legal result in everyone becoming psychopaths apart from the family in this film? Why doesn't anyone just go on vacation? What happens to people in hospitals or need medical assistance for unrelated "purge" reasons?
All the "twists"were obvious and very predictable.
The other problems other reviewers have already mentioned.
and.....
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Does Ethan Hawkes character die because was the last to come around to not handing the homeless guy over? Or is it just easier to kill off a man protecting his family than a woman? Double standards.