strong concept that delivers thrills.

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2013)

The Purge is one of those rare movies that did not resemble a big budget studio film in any way, yet it received a wide release in theaters. This movie shows what you can do with an original high concept and a modest budget. It helped that it stars Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey. The Purge is about a family of four who are living in the near future during one day. This just happens to be the one day of the year when any form of crime is made legal and no police or emergency response is available. There are some rules; certain weapons are not allowed and of course government personnel of a high rank cannot be killed or attacked without consequence.
The reason for this annual day of carnage is for the best interest of the nation because it has brought unemployment down to one percent and crime on any other day of the year to record setting lows. This is all a type of therapy, an outlet to vent deep seeded primal urges for those who choose to participate.
So the family shelters themselves in their house with the help of an armored security system that covers all of the doors and windows. Around 20 minutes into the film a B-story kicks in then all hell breaks loose. A clan of young private school students have reason to break into the house. The leader of this group played by Rhys Wakefield is exceptional and is such a believable sociopath you cannot help but be entertained while he was on screen. Everything in this movie is made to feel hyper realistic which makes the situation even more terrifying.
The Purge holds up against any other movie playing in the theaters and was produced for 3 Million and it grossed 76 Million to date. I hope the studios take note of this. It should come as no surprise that The Purge 2 is in development. There is countless places you can go with a strong premise like this. For example, what does the white house do during this day of anarchy? It would be interesting to see The Purge from the point of view from someone who hunts. Maybe they have a valid reason for choosing their prey and the audience could be routing for the hunters. This movie causes us to ask tough questions of ourselves and that is why it is so great in my opinion.
I have to say that in the theater seated one row behind me were two fat women who talked throughout the whole movie. I wanted to stand up and yell at these self centered ignorant people to vent my anger. Instead I moved away from them. But as I did that I thought if the purge existed I might have followed those two out to their car, to find out where they live.