The Purge

First off, I'm so sorry for not posting in quite a while. But I will be able to post more now, so hopefully that will make it up to you. Here is my review for the movie The Purge, I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to posting more for you.

The Purge

By: Nicolette Karter

        I liked this movie. I was nervous it would be too gory, but other than that, I had quite an interest in seeing this. I finally did, and I was not disappointed. It also wasn’t gory at all, so that’s always a plus. Well, people died, but not in a gross showing-it-in-great-detail kind of way.

        It starts with footage of previous purges, which is mostly people killing each other. Then we meet the father/husband of the family the movie focuses on, played by the talented Ethan Hawke. He (James Sandin) is married to Lena Heady’s Mary. They have two average kids, a teenage daughter Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and a pre-pubescent boy named Charlie (Max Burkholder). They seem like a typical family-& they are-with the teenager & parents butting heads about dating, and a youngish kid not fully understanding the point of having 12 hours set aside for the sole purpose of committing crime.

        After dinner the purge begins, but this family can afford protection, so they hole up in their enormous house. Now, for the people who haven’t seen this, imagine a castle. That is about the size of their mansion. Like, everyone on the block is loaded, they live in a nice neighborhood, but they are the crown jewel. James makes a lot of money selling people equipment to make their houses safe, things he has in his house, like cameras & solid steel doors and windows that come down to arm the house against murderers and/or burglars.

        This leads me to a kind of side note. In the movie it had a lot of news feeds and radio talk shows with different points of view. Some of them were talking about how those with money (like the Sandins) are the only ones able to buy things necessary to either survive or fight during the purge. This in turn is helping to eradicate the lower classes (like the homeless) who can’t afford to protect themselves. I thought it was a cool way to have a metaphor for the inflation going on in America now (the movie takes place in America, 2022; so just in case, I’m investing in self-defense classes now). I’m not sure if that was the creators’ intention, but it’s just a thought I had. And it was so in the background that it’s clear they weren’t trying to have to whole movie be one giant political statement. Ok, I’m done with the side note.

        After a short time, Charlie is looking on the camera screens & sees a stranger running & yelling for help. He takes pity on the man and disarms the house, causing the parents to think “What the hell is going on”, and go check up on the situation. While this is happening, Zoey’s boyfriend (who the parents don’t like) goes to talk to James after sneaking into the house. But he ends up shooting at James, who shoots back, & in the confusion: the stranger runs off into another room, James gets shot (not badly), & a shocked Zoey runs in then out with her fatally injured boyfriend. So this purge isn’t exactly going well for them this year. After putting Mary & Charlie in a room with emergency-only guns, James tries to find Zoey & the stranger, who Zoey doesn’t know about. About this time in the movie, I’m wondering why a house of that size doesn’t have any intercoms; would have come in so handy.

        Anywho, this is when masked strangers arrive; the leader of which had a nice, yet somehow also creepier than his mask, smile on his face the entire time he’s in the movie. He’s all “I politely ask you to give us the stranger alive so we can brutally kill him, or we’ll break into your home & brutally kill all of you. Good day to you sir.” While he’s a cold-hearted murderer, I gotta give him props for unwavering manners. After a tense game of hide & seek, the family finds & ties up the stranger, yet decide to fight the ne’er-do-wells instead of sending the man out to die. Admirable as that is, I think it’s rather stupid, but that statement also makes me feel a bit heartless. But 4 untrained, hardly armed family members or 1 already injured homeless guy against about 12 killers who are armed almost to the teeth? It’s a judgment call; I guess my judgment just likes to live more than be a good person.

        It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because a truck arrived that obliterated the nigh impenetrable house & the killers got inside. Cue the time you & your friends/family play a dark little game & guess which family member(s) die & in what order. (My guess was Charlie first). In any case, the family fights for their lives & the masked strangers fight for homicidal fun. The movie was really good, and shockingly well-made considering it only cost $3 million to make. I enjoyed it, and as long as you don’t mind getting scared a few times (especially if someone knocks on your door during it, trust me that’s a bit scary), then you would probably like this thriller as much as I did. They did a great job all around. So what movie or TV show do you want me to review next?