The Purge

Reminder, all emergency services will be suspended for a 12 hour period during The Purge

### Produced by

Jason BlumMichael Bay

Andrew Form

Brad Fuller

Sebastien Lemercier

### Production Company

Platinum DunesBlumhouse Productions

Why Not Productions

### Release date

May 2, 2013 (Stanley Film Festival)June 7, 2013 (United States)

### Box office

$89.3 million

The Purge is about a rich family that tries to survive the one night a year where for 12 hours all crime, including murder is legal. It has two sequels and one in the making.

## Plot

In 2014, the New Founding Fathers of America, a totalitarian political party, are voted into office following an economic collapse. They pass a law that sanctions an annual "Purge": for 12 hours each year all crime, including murder, arson, theft and rape, is legal, except against government officials, and all emergency services are unavailable until 7 am. By 2022, the United States has become virtually crime-free and the unemployment rate has dropped to 1%, ostensibly because of the Purge.

James Sandin returns to his home in an affluent Los Angeles gated community to wait out the night with his wife Mary and their children, Zoey and Charlie. The family is assured that the security system manufactured by James' company will keep them safe. While the family awaits the start of the purge, Zoey meets her boyfriend Henry, an older boy whom James dislikes as he is eighteen, deeming him too old for his daughter. 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 had snuck back in before the security system was engaged, and says that he plans to confront her father 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 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 Henry. During the chaos, the wounded man disappears and hides.

Through the surveillance cameras, the family witness a gang of masked, heavily armed young adults arriving at the front lawn. The leader warns them that failure to surrender the wounded man will result in invasion. Mary asks James if the security system will protect them, but James admits the system will not actually resist a determined assault. They decide to find the man and give him to the purge gang outside, but after capturing him they realize they are no better than the gang. They decide to spare the man, and defend themselves against the gang.

With their deadline having passed, the gang uses a truck to rip the metal plating off the front door and enter the house. James fights back with a shotgun and kills several gang members before he is stabbed by the leader. Charlie views the surveillance cameras, and notices their neighbors leaving their homes. The neighbors overpower and murder the gang. Elsewhere, Mary is overpowered and humiliated by two purgers, who try to tickle her to death, only to be killed by the neighbors before they can do so. The gang leader arrives, brandishing a shotgun to kill the family, but is fatally shot by Zoey, who is wielding Henry's handgun. James succumbs to his wound and dies in front of Mary, Zoey, and Charlie, leaving them in tears.

Mary thanks their neighbors for their support, but one of them, Grace Ferrin, reveals their hatred for the Sandins due to the wealth acquired at their expense. They tie Mary, Charlie, and Zoey up with duct tape, pulling them out into the hallway to kill them, but as the neighbors make final preparations for the murder, the man whom Charlie let in earlier reappears. He shoots a neighbor dead and holds Grace hostage, forcing the neighbors to free the Sandins. The Stranger prepares to shoot the neighbors, with them allowing them to. Mary decides not to kill them and the Stranger conceals his gun. Mary explains that they will all wait out the remainder of the Purge without any violence.

The next morning, in the last few minutes of the Purge, Mary, Grace, the Stranger, and the other neighbors wait in the living room. Mary asks a neighbor, Mr. Halverson, if he enjoyed Grace's "Purge party" (the meeting of the neighbors to discuss the plans for the murders), to which Halverson affirms. As Charlie and Zoey mourn James' death, Grace attempts to seize a shotgun from Mary; Mary regains control of the shotgun, rams the stock of the gun into Grace's nose and throws her head down onto a glass table, furiously ordering for the end of violence. Grace acknowledges, but is unable to reply from her injury as it bleeds very fast. Mary orders Grace and the neighbors out of the house as the siren sounds, signaling the conclusion of the Purge which they do leave. After the neighbors depart, Mary thanks the Stranger for his help and he bids the Sandins good luck as he leaves the gun behind that he was using.

During the credits, news reports are heard, which state that this year’s purge was the most successful to date. Other stations broadcast that the stock market is booming due to the massive sales of weapons and security systems. A man’s voice speaks of the loss of his patriotism after the death of his sons the night before.

## Release

The Purge was premiered on May 2, 2013 at the Stanley Film Festival and was theatrically released on June 7, 2013. On DVD, it was released on October 8, 2013 and for a 4K UHD Blu-Ray it will be on June 12, 2018.

## Sequels and prequel

#### **The Purge: Anarchy**

The first sequel to The Purge was released just a year later on July 18, 2014 due to the success on the first film.

#### **The Purge: Election Year**

The second sequel to The Purge was released July 1, 2016.

#### **The First Purge**

This movie is supposed to be a prequel to The Purge and will be explaining more why The Purge even started. It is set to release July 4, 2018.

## Cast

#### **The Sandin Family**

* Ethan Hawke as James Sandin
* Lena Headey as Mary Sandin
* Adelaide Kane as Zoey Sandin
* Max Burkholder as Charlie Sandin

#### **The Neighbours**

* Arija Bareikis as Grace Ferrin
* Dana Bunch as Mr. Ferrin
* Chris Mulkey as Mr. Halverson
* Tisha French as Mrs. Halverson
* Tom Yi as Mr. Cali

#### **The Purgers**

* Rhys Wakefield as Polite Leader
* John Weselcouch as Interrupting Purger
* Alicia Vela-Bailey as Female Tickling Purger
* Aaron Kuban as Purger
* Boima Blake as Purger
* Nathan Clarkson as Purger
* Chester Lockhart as Purger
* Tyler Osterkamp as Purger
* R. J. Wolfe as Purger
* Trazariah Shells as Purger
* Thomas Fuentelzar as Purger

#### **Others**

* Edwin Hodge as Bloody Stranger[7]
* Cindy Robinson as Purge Announcement Voice
* Tony Oller as Henry
* Karen Strassman as Newscaster
* Peter Bzovdas as Dr. Peter Buynak