The Ballardian
premise of an annual 12-hour State condoned crime free-for-all as a way to purge
our anger and ‘feed the inner beast’ is a ideal opportunity to reflect on the cultural
psyche of America particularly in the aftermath of community shootings and the
war on terror.
The Purge takes a
small-scale examination of the idea focusing on one family with a vested interest
in the security systems that keep the middle-classes safe on Purge night. Ethan
Hawke and Lena Headley are convincing as the parent pushed to extremes in what
is essential a stranger-in-a–house movie that owes a lot to 'Funny Games' albeit whislt still keeping its audience safe and comfortable. Unfortunately the finale is telegraphed
in the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Its still an intriguing
ride that asks some potentially interesting questions but, by downsizing the
plot, doesn’t go very far in answering them.
The depiction of high security gated communities contrasted with the
disenfranchised victims of lawlessness recalled my visit to Cape Town a decade
or so ago.
7/10
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