Film Review – The Purge

Director: James DeMonaco
Screenplay: James DeMonaco
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey and Adelaide Kane
Genre: Horror
Ratings: *

Rating Score
* – Poor
** – Average
*** – Good
**** – Very Good
***** – Excellent

In the year 2022 the United States has become “a nation reborn” thanks to the New Founding Fathers of America. They have made sure that crime and unemployment rates are at an all time low largely due to the 12-hour period called “The Purge”.  During this window all criminal activity including murder, theft and rape become legal. James Sadin (Ethan Hawke) is a wealthy home security salesman who lives with his wife Mary (Lena Headey)and his two children Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and Charlie (Max Burkholder). But on this particular night the purge becomes a nightmare for them when their security system is breached and they become vulnerable. For the rest of the movie they must defend themselves against intruders who are trying to kill them. The Purge is not as disturbing as I thought it would be. The cinematography is good, the quality of the movie is acceptable but the acting seems a bit fake and unrealistic.

The actors are just not convincing enough. Even Ethan Hawke is disappointing, although his performance is the best out of all the actors. But it is still mediocre, not one of his best performances, he could have done better. This movie is truly just not worth watching. Maybe it is because of the fact that I do not like horror movies or that the acting is just not good enough to convince me that what I am watching should be scary. The plot/screenplay is actually not that bad because it gives you something to think about if something like “The Purge” might really happen. Would you participate in the purge and vent all negative emotions and repressed urges on whomever you desire, or would you lock yourself in your highly secured home with your family and wait for the purge to end? What if you are homeless? How do you protect yourself?  Besides the questions that this movie makes you ask yourself, would you kill someone if you were allowed to do so, without any consequences. For me I really don’t want to think about it, I will only  know the answer to that question if I am put in that situation. For now let me keep telling myself that I will never ever do such a thing. The Purge is not worth paying for to watch. Do not even consider renting it, rather wait for it to be on TV, then you can invite your friend over for a sleepover and see who screams, laughs or sighs with frustration the loudest. So really, I would not waste my time. Rather watch the Kardashians and catch up to how they are embarrassing themselves.