This dystopian future in the US is not too different to the present apart from one day per year, the day of The Purge. For twelve hours, all crime including murder is legal, in an attempt to get rid of all of the pent up anger that the button down society demands. There are three ways that people deal with The Purge – the rich lock themselves up, the poor try to survive and the others participate in The Purge, killing and attacking whoever they want.
James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) sells security systems, and has just become the number one seller in the region. He, his wife Mary (Lena Headey), son Charlie (Max Burkholder) and daughter Zoey (Adelaide Kane) lock down, but when a homeless man who has been attacked stumbles into the rich streets screaming for help, Charlie’s humanity causes him to let the man in. The attackers, a group of attractive, young, educated, wealthy people insist that either the man is released or they will break in to the house.
I had a few minor issues with the film, but nothing I felt worth mentioning. I liked it for the suspense it created, the challenges it gave the characters (okay, some of those were pretty ridiculous and underdone, but whatever) and the reality it portrayed. It was fun and silly and made some (albeit obvious and a bit clumsy) comments on society.
ireckonthat 