The Purge (2013 film)

This is all complete bullshit

Plot

In 2014, the New Founding Fathers of America, a far right political party inspired by the Founding Fathers of the United States, are voted into office following an economic collapse and pass the 28th Amendment which sanctions an annual national civic tradition called "The Purge", the first of which takes place in 2017. The Purge occurs for 12 hours, from 7 p.m. March 21 to 7 a.m. March 22, during which all crime is legal and all police, fire, and medical emergency services remain unavailable. Restrictions prohibit government officials "ranking 10" from being disturbed, as well as the use of all weapons above Class 4 (explosive devices such as grenades, rocket launchers, and bazookas). Violation of Purge rules results in a summary execution by hanging. The Purge has resulted in unemployment rates plummeting to 1%, low crime, and a strong economy.

On March 21, 2022, James Sandin (Ethan Hawke), a top salesman for elaborate security systems designed specifically for Purge Night, returns to his home in an affluent Los Angeles gated community to wait out the night with his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their two children, Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and Charlie (Max Burkholder). 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 meets 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 (Edwin Hodge) 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 and eventually killing Henry. During the chaos, the wounded man disappears and hides. James takes Mary and Charlie back to the security control room.

As James reprimands Charlie for letting the man into their home, they view over the surveillance cameras, where they witness a gang of masked young adults armed with guns, axes and hammers arriving to the front lawn. Their leader (Rhys Wakefield) unmasks himself, compliments the Sandins on their support of the Purge, and then tells them that if they fail to surrender the man, they will be forced to "release the beast", implying they will forcefully enter the house and kill everyone inside. Mary asks James if the security system will help protect them, but James admits the system is only supposed to discourage potential invaders and would not actually protect them against heavy force. They decide to find the man and give him to the Purge gang outside, but after capturing the man, they realize they are no better than the gang waiting outside. 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. As the family fights against the gang, Charlie views the surveillance cameras and notices their neighbors leaving their homes. The neighbors overpower and murder the gang, though James is mortally wounded by the gang leader in the battle. Elsewhere, Mary is subdued by two Purgers, one of whom tickle tortures her before almost killing her, but are both killed by the neighbors. As the gang leader prepares to kill the remaining Sandins, Zoey appears and kills him.

Mary thanks their neighbors for their support, but one of them, Grace Ferrin (Arija Bareikis), reveals their hatred for the Sandins due to 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. But as the neighbors make final preparations for the murder, the man re-appears, kills a neighbor (Tom Yi) with a Browning Hi-Power and holds Grace hostage, forcing the neighbors to free the Sandins. He asks if Mary wishes to kill the neighbors, but Mary spares them. Eventually, the sirens go off, announcing the end of the Annual Purge. The neighbors leave and Mary thanks the man for his help, which he appreciates and bids the Sandins farewell.

News reports later state that this year's Purge is the most successful to date.

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 Neighbors

• 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 Purge gang leader (credited 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
• RJ Wolfe as Purger
• Trazariah Shells as Purger

Other characters

• Edwin Hodge as The Stranger (credited as "Bloody Stranger")
• Tony Oller as Henry
• Karen Strassman as Newscaster
• Peter Bzovdas as Dr. Peter Buynak

Release

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

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 37% based on 139 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." The film holds a score of 41 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 33 critics, signifying "mixed or average reviews".

On io9, Charlie Jane Anders described it as "a clunky and implausible political screed in movie form." 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."

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. 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.

Sequels

Main articles: The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge: Election Year

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 first film. Edwin Hodge (The Stranger) was the only cast member to reprise a role.

A third film, The Purge: Election Year, was released on July 1, 2016.

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. 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". Horror news website Bloody Disgusting gave the play "four skulls" and praised the show for its acting and storyline.

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 title characters become trapped on a "purge world".

The comedy film Meet the Blacks spoofs The Purge.

In an apparent copycat crime, from May 12 to May 16, 2016, Jonathan Cruz killed Billy Boyd, Jay Higginbotham, Steven Clark and Jose Cruz. Prosecutor Terry Curry said that "Cruz told at least three people he was mimicking The Purge".

See also

• Crypteia, an annual event during which members of the ruling class of Sparta were permitted to kill members of the subjugated helot population without incurring criminal or civil liability.
• "The Return of the Archons", a 1967 episode of Star Trek in which an otherwise placid society is allowed pre-scheduled 12-hour periods of lawlessness and violence.
• Madeinusa, a 2005 film about a village that believes it is impossible to sin from Good Friday to Easter.
• List of films featuring home invasions

External links

• Official website
• Official website at Blumhouse Productions' website
• The Purge at IMDb
• The Purge at Box Office Mojo
• The Purge at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Purge at Metacritic
• The Purge at AllMovie by Jason Buchanan
• The Purge at the Internet Movie Firearms Database
• The Purge at FilmFracture