| The Purge | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James DeMonaco |
| Written by | James DeMonaco |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Jacques Jouffret |
| Edited by | Peter Gvozdas |
| Music by | Nathan Whitehead |
Production |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 85 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[3] |
| Box office | $91.3 million[4] |
The Purge is a 2013 American dystopian action horror film written and directed by James DeMonaco. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane, and Max Burkholder as members of a wealthy family who find themselves endangered by a gang of murderers during the annual Purge, a night during which all crime, including murder, is temporarily legal. The Purge premiered at the Stanley Film Festival on May 7, 2013, and Universal Pictures theatrically released it in the United States on June 7, 2013. The film grossed $91 million against a $3 million budget.
It is the first installment in the Purge franchise. A sequel, subtitled Anarchy, was released worldwide on July 18, 2014.[5] A third film, Election Year, was released July 1, 2016, and a prequel, The First Purge, was released on July 4, 2018,[6][7] and a television series, set between the second and third films, aired for two seasons from September 4, 2018, to December 17, 2019. A fifth film, The Forever Purge, was released on July 2, 2021.[8]
In 2014, a political party called the "New Founding Fathers of America" are voted into office following an economic collapse and pass a law sanctioning the "Purge", an annual event wherein all crime (including murder) is legal, and emergency services are unavailable for 12 hours. By 2022, the United States is said to have become virtually crime-free, with legal unemployment rates having dropped to 1%
Businessman James Sandin returns to his home in an affluent Los Angeles gated community to wait out the Purge with his wife, Mary, and their children, Zoey and Charlie. The family is assured the security system manufactured by James' company will keep them safe while Zoey meets her boyfriend, Henry. As the year's Purge begins, James enables the security system, and the family disperses to go about their everyday routines. Zoey returns to her room and finds Henry, who had snuck in before the security system was engaged, planning on confronting her father about their relationship. Meanwhile, Charlie watches the security monitors and sees a wounded man calling for help. He temporarily disables the system to allow the man inside, but James races to re-engage the system and holds the man at gunpoint. Henry comes downstairs, points a pistol at James, and opens fire, but James returns fire and mortally wounds Henry. During the chaos, the stranger disappears.
The family sees a gang of masked, heavily armed young people arriving at the front lawn through the surveillance cameras. The leader demands the homeless man, warning that failure to comply will result in an invasion. When Mary asks about the security system, James admits it is incapable of withstanding a determined assault. The family finds and captures the stranger to give him to the gang, only to realize that they would not be better off if they did and choose to defend him and themselves. After the deadline passes, the gang breaks into the house, and James fights back and kills several of them before the leader stabs him. Charlie notices the neighbors leaving their homes on the monitors before the neighbors enter and kill the remaining gang members. Mary is ambushed by two of the Purgers and gets restrained, but the neighbors save her as the Purgers tickle torture her. The leader attempts to kill the family but is killed by Zoey, while James dies from his injuries.
Mary starts to thank the neighbors for saving them, but their leader, Grace Ferrin, reveals her group's hatred for the Sandins due to their wealth being acquired at the neighbors' expense. They capture the Sandins and prepare to kill them, but the stranger returns, kills one of the neighbors, and holds Grace hostage to force them to free the Sandins. Mary stops him from killing the remaining neighbors, not wanting to become a purging monster like them, and decides they will peacefully wait out the remainder of the Purge.
Grace attempts to seize control the following day, but Mary violently breaks her nose with the butt of a shotgun and then smashes her face into a dining table in retaliation, telling her once again no more killing. As sirens sound to signal the end of the Purge, she forces her former friends to leave her house and thanks the stranger for his help. He bids the Sandins luck before leaving as well.
Television news reports state this year's Purge was the most successful to date. Other stations report that the stock market is booming due to massive weapon and security systems sales. A man's voice speaks of the loss of his patriotism after the death of his sons the night before.
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DeMonaco was partially inspired to write the script based on a comment from his wife following a road rage incident. Both DeMonaco and Lemercier recalled initially experiencing negative feedback while seeking funding for their script, being told it was "too un-American" due to its themes of violence and gun control. Jason Blum, representing Universal, was tasked with developing low-cost genre films to the studio, provided DeMonaco and Lemercier with $3 million in funding to produce the film.
The film was shot in Los Angeles.[11] The relatively low budget of the film resulted in setting the film almost entirely within the house. Hawke slept on Blum's couch during the course of filming and agreed to $10,000 up front for his involvement. Following the film's success, Hawke later made $2 million in backend compensation.[12][13]
DeMonaco and Lemercier were initially unsure if the film would ultimately be released, given mediocre screen testing, though DeMonaco also noted that Black and Latino test audiences responded positively to the film, which he credited to the film's themes.[11] DeMonaco also encountered testing response cards from viewers who expressed approval for the purge concept, which he found disturbing and antithetical to the film's message.[11]
The film premiered at the Stanley Film Festival on May 2, 2013,[14] and released in cinemas on June 7, 2013, in the United States.[15]
The Purge was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 8, 2013. A 4K UHD Blu-ray release occurred on June 12, 2018.[16]
It grossed $13 million in home video sales.[17]
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.[18] The film earned $64.5 million domestically and $24.9 million outside the United States, for a total of $91.3 million worldwide, with a production budget of $3 million.[19]
Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 40% based on 159 reviews and a weighted average of 5.20/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Half social allegory, half home-invasion thriller, The Purge attempts to make an intelligent point, but ultimately devolves into numbing violence and tired clichés."[20] The film holds a score of 41 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 33 critics, signifying "mixed or average reviews".[21]
Onio9, Charlie Jane Anders described it as "a clunky and implausible political screed in movie form".[22] 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".[23]
In the Tri-City Herald, Gary Wolcott described the movie as "[A]lmost the dumbest movie in history. My recommendation is purge The Purge from your weekend movie plans."[24]
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 and is set in 2023, a year after the first film.[25][26] Edwin Hodge (The Stranger), Tyler Osterkamp (The Freak), and Nathan Clarkson (The Purger) were the only cast members to reprise their role, while only Hodge was credited.
A third film, The Purge: Election Year, was released on July 1, 2016.[27] A fourth film, The First Purge, which is set as a prequel in the franchise, was released on July 4, 2018.[28] Ethan Hawke reprises his role as James Sandin in the opening scene of "7:01am", the series finaleofThe Purge television series. A fifth film, The Forever Purge, was released on July 2, 2021.[8]
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