Review: The Purge ★★

The Purge is James DeMonaco's attempt at showing us what could lay in wait for the Western world with our often questionable moral compass. He tries to couple the classic thriller banality with an underlying political comment, and fails on both counts. 

The film opens on James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) returning to his large house, in its pristine and gated neighbourhood, on the eve of the annual purge. The annual purge was developed and passed by the mysterious New Founding Fathers, granting US citizens a 12-hour period where all emergency services are suspended and all crime is 'legal'. It was created in an attempt to reduce US crime and it has succeeded; the public seem to appreciate the opportunity to "purge their souls". James Sandin is one of the leading security system salesmen, exploiting the purge to create a small fortune (a fact much despised by his neighbours).

The Sandin family are, in typical slasher fashion, dysfunctional. James' wife, Mary, is played by Lena Headey and she puts in a characteristically strong performance. There are two kids, Zoey and Charlie, both playing roles we have seen many times before. Charlie (Max Burkholder) is a socially-awkward loner and Zoey (Adelaide Kane) is a rebellious teenage girl, typified by her desire to secretly date someone her father doesn't approve of. 

The first half of the film is disappointing as DeMonaco makes the ill-founded decision to loiter around the political and ethical issues that come with the purge. Regrettably, the script is nowhere near good enough to make this first half engaging. The awkward dialogue is at its worst as the family, and the audience with them, suffer through dinner together. Hawke and Headey are both strong actors but even they cannot rescue the dialogue here. 

The poor build-up is not helped by the noticeable influence of Michael Bay. Having seen his producing credit crop up at the film's opening, one can make the safe prediction of seeing either an explosion or a girl in a bawdy outfit. Lo and behold, under 10 minutes in, we have Zoey in a risqué school uniform, dry-humping her boyfriend. At least Bay is nothing if not consistent with his lecherous depravity.

The film really gets going when Charlie decides, rather naïvely, to disarm the security system and grant Edwin Hodge's character, sanctuary. Unfortunately, he was a 'purge target' for some sinister socialites who arrive at the Sandin's house asking for their man back, on the proviso that if he is returned then the family will remain unharmed. They explain that they do not want to harm a family cut from the same cloth as they. Upon their eventual entry to the house through Sandin's own questionable security system, The Purge becomes a classic home invasion thriller, complete with clichés. The film moves clumsily towards its unfortunately predictable climax, throwing in a rare jump on occasion. However, DeMonaco manages to sustain a certain level of tension throughout the invasion half of the film, which is the film's saviour. 

James DeMonaco has tried and failed to make a film that is both frightening and thought-provoking. The attempted political comment is not intelligent enough to warrant thinking about and the scares are predictable. However, it offers enough tension to make it a passable 85 minutes of slasher cinema.