THE PURGE

The Purge (15)

Director: James De Monaco
Screenplay: James De Monaco
Starring: Selma Blair, James D'Arcy

How far would you go to be perfect?

It seems that Ethan Hawke got a taste for genre films after“Daybreakers” (2009) and the highly successful “Insidious”(2012). He’s back again for this science-fiction psycho-thriller.This time he’s got genre vet Lena Headey (“Dredd”, “Game of Thrones”, etc.) as company. Written and directed by James DeMonaco,whose only previous film as director was a New York crime film called“Staten Island” (2009), which also starred Ethan Hawke. Basedaround a high-concept future version of the USA, the movie has just been released in the UK on May 31st,and is due shortly afterwards in America (where it might just ruffle a few more feathers than it will here...)

The film is set in 2022 in the USA. But this isn’t the same good ol’ America that we know at the moment. At some time between now and then, there seems to have been some kind of governmental and religious overthrow, and the country has been announced as being“reborn” with stark new rules in place to reduce the unemployment and crime levels, as well as creating prosperity. As the popular Internet meme has it … well, that escalated quickly! The main lynch-pin for this reform is an annual event known as “The Purge”.This is a 12 hour amnesty on crime itself. Anybody can commit acrime, including murder, without fear of prosecution or intervention by the emergency services from 7pm on June 7thto 7am on June 8th.To get through the night, the rich obtain state-of-the-art security systems and hunker down to watch live coverage … or they join in“the hunt”. The poor … well, let’s just say they get the burnt end of life’s pizza. The plot centres on one upper class and successful family called the Sandins. James (Hawke) is the father and making a bundle out of (you’ve guessed it) selling security systems. Mum Mary (Headey), Daughter Zoey (played by Adelaide Kane)and son Charlie (played by Max Burkholder) make up the rest of the family. Safe in a gated community, they “lock-up” for the night,and only Charlie seems upset by the forthcoming events, with the rest pre-occupied by their own problems. Of course this comes to bear later on, when a homeless man barrels down their street begging for help. Charlie impulsively lets him in, and sets in motion a set of incidents that will rock the safe little world of the Sandins, as they realise what the world is truly like now…

It’s a great concept for a film, but it is inherently daft, and it gets dafter the more you think of it. Would a mere 12 hour annual event really have the impact that is suggested here, with unemployment down to 1%, a flourishing economy, and a total lack of crime. Of course it’s really an excuse to hammer home that a “survival of the fittest” environment would lead to the impoverished and destitute being picked off, by those with the cash to buy sufficient weapons and the fortitude to use them, In reality it would probably be the tooled up psychos and survivalists that would wipe out whole neighbourhoods, whatever their financial state was. And would such a majority of a country allow it to happen? Mind you, with the current attitudes towards gun control … Nope! Not going there! Anyway, how the hell would they deal with home insurance claims?

Suffice to say, it is an intriguing basis for a film, even if it doesn’t bear real scrutiny. The trouble is that, despite this being a nationwide event, we experience the whole night from within the house of the Sandins. The whole premise is really just a set-up for a home invasion scenario. As a group of creepy masked individuals congregate outside their residence, the Sandins discover that they REALLY want the homeless guy and they have to make a moral choice between sending him out to certain death, or becoming victims of the purge themselves.

Because of this (and an unfortunate incident with Zoey’s boyfriend) there’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the house, with moral decisions (for which the kid’s seem miles better suited to than the adults!), and some really tedious searching for the homeless guy and family members themselves. Seriously, I lost count of the number of times that the parents lost track of the kids and frantically shouted “Where’s Zoey/Charlie/Zoey & Charlie”. Put ‘em on a leash guys!

Therewere a couple of other things that irked me. Would you really be ok with your boyfriend breaking into your house, and moodily insisting on seeing your father, on the VERY night that murder is legal?HELLO!? *raps knuckles on daughter’s head*. Towards the end, there is also the cheesiest (and most inappropriate) use EVER, for a wrist heart-monitor.

Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey are very fine actors, but here they’re saddled with making some very dislikeable people into protagonists that you can root for. Admittedly, they do pull it off with some very cool moments towards the later parts of the film. Making a better overall impression is the un-named “polite stranger” who leads the gang invading the house. Played with a huge shit-eating grin, and a bucket-full of well-mannered menace, by Rhys Wakefield, he makes a fine villain. Just watch how he deals with a friend who interrupts his monologue at one point!
But even so, with all my previous negative comments, why did I still give it a 3-star rating? Well once the morale decisions are out of the way, and the strangers make good on their threats, there are some wonderfully tight fight scenes, and some real suspense. Hawke and Headey get their real chance to shine and strut their action/acting muscles. A couple of moments actually had the audience I saw it with,clapping and cheering. Towards the end, the plot takes some turns which are extremely satisfying, if not really unexpected. There’s also an eye-watering scene with an open wound and a letter opener.*ouch*.

At the end of the day it's a tight little film, but the“high-concept” and Science-Fiction components really add very little to the movie, and don’t necessarily raise it above other existing “home-invasion” flicks.
I just hope it doesn’t give anyone currently in US government any ideas… What did happen to Sarah Palin?

Starts as a promising sci-fi/horror concept and devolves into a singular home-invasion flick. Some good n’ punchy scenes towards the end provide some fine redemption, but the capable leads and intriguing core ideas are wasted. A good time-waster, but it could have, and should have, been so much more.