For the longest time I mistakenly thought this franchise was some kind of horror or torture porn series like the 'Saw' or 'Hostel' franchises. For me this franchise just kinda blurred into all the other horror flicks that were being churned out around the same time. They all seemed the same with bland movie posters etc...Because of this I didn't bother with it because those things aren't really my cup of tea. Boy was I wrong!
So the plot is pretty simple. After economic collapse in the US a new political party comes into power and introduces 'purge night' or 'the purge'. An annual event where all crime is allowed for one night only with all emergency services suspended during the night. Somehow this has allowed the US to become almost crime free with almost no unemployment, dunno why. On this night a wealthy family, against all well-known recommendations and advice, allow a stranger (who is being hunted) into their home. Thusly the entire family come under siege and must survive the night from a group of 'purgers' who want the stranger (so they can 'purge'/execute him).
So overall I do actually like this movie, which surprised me. I fully went into this expecting some silly violent nonsense but I actually found myself getting sucked in and enjoying the thrills. The story is actually quite intriguing with its (admittedly) obvious social allegories but does get you thinking. Could this actually happen in reality? Yeah it could, you could actually see something like this coming about in the distant future. It's not out of the realms of possibility for sure, and that's what's so intriguing about it. It's very much like the game shows and tech we see in the Arnie action vehicle 'The Running Man' which, apart from the violence of course, have actually come to fruition. Granted it's not a big stretch or anything but the violent aspect of it could easily (and worryingly) turn up in decades to come.
The purge is seen as a way for the masses to vent their pent-up anger and for the rich to purge the undesirable (poor people). I don't really understand how that would reduce crime across the nation though. And I don't really get how erasing poor people would help because you need all levels of people for a society to function, it can't be solely rich folk. And as for the notion that everyone just stops killing each other at the sound of a loud siren is kinda daft because we all know it wouldn't stop, people would keep on going. You know you'd have to forcefully stop people. Plus I would imagine the overall damage and destruction to infrastructure would be immense. To the point that by the time you'd fixed it all back up it would be time for the next purge and it would get all wrecked again.
It is all a bit on the nose to be honest though. The affluent family are all White and pretty generic, nothing to speak of really. The only surprise to me was the young boy who suffers from a guilt trip and allows the homeless man on the run into the house. I would have expected the young girl or mother to do that seeing as women tend to be a bit more forgiving and liberally minded. As for the poor homeless man being hunted, he's Black, so yeah...on the nose with the social commentary and allegories. The purgers are also all White and from wealthy backgrounds themselves. A bunch of young adults, probably in their early twenties, their leader a blonde guy (cos blonde haired blue-eyed males are always evil apparently). So overall you have all White folk. The innocent family is White. The demented purgers are White and could easily be seen as Klan-esque in nature. And the lone character being hunted is Black (in this area at least), you getting the message?
Violence wise it's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Standard stuff really, as you would expect, but effective. The movie doesn't need to be ultra-violent but it does need to show hints of the raw brutality that would occur under such circumstances. The finale is also quite good. I enjoyed the twist with the neighbours, the small somewhat obvious twist with the boyfriend was okay too. The fact that the homeless man turns out to be the hero in the end isn't much of a surprise though (come on people twas obvious!).
So yes like I said I did actually get on with this movie okay. Whilst it's not the most original story ever it does lure you in and keep you interested, despite being mostly predictable. The key is obviously the hot-button social allegories which back in 2013 were pretty spicy, but now in 2023 even more so! So essentially our present day is the perfect time to first-time watch or revisit this movie/franchise as (unfortunately) the plot is highly relevant.
7/10
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