The Purge
Short description
The United States has adopted an annual event known as the Purge: a twelve-hour window in which all crime, including murder, is legal, and emergency services are suspended. The policy is presented as a way of relieving crowding in prisons and letting citizens release aggression once a year. James Sandin sells home security systems and lives with his wife Mary and their children Zoey and Charlie in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb. As the night begins, a stranger arrives at their door, and the family's fortified house becomes the target of intruders.
James DeMonaco wrote and directed the film, his first time in the director's chair and the opening entry of the series he continued with The Purge: Anarchy, The Purge: Election Year and, later, The Home. Ethan Hawke plays James, with Lena Headey as Mary, Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane as the children, and Rhys Wakefield and Edwin Hodge among the credited cast. Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller produced.
Made for about 3 million dollars, the film took roughly 91 million worldwide, a large return on a small production. On IMDb it holds 5.8/10 from around 259,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.2/10 from about 9,000 votes, while the critics' rating stands at 5.2/10 from 155 reviews, placing professional assessments slightly below audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film includes a robot named Timmy, who strongly resembles the Terminator, and is a reference to the series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (2008-2009), where Lena Headey played the lead role.
- Over a hundred masks were created for the film.
- The women in white dresses are based on followers of Charles Manson (1934-2017), a criminal and cult leader whose members were involved in a number of high-profile murders in the United States in the mid-20th century.
- Ethan Hawke was friends with producer Jason Blum and director James DeMonaco and was happy to support their low-budget film with his participation. Rumor has it that Hawke was paid only $3,000 upfront for the role.
- Riza Wakefield was cast in the film a day before shooting began. All other candidates for the role overacted, while Wakefield, according to director James DeMonaco, played somewhat detached, with a smile on his lips, as if he was enjoying it all, and his acting reminded DeMonaco of Manson.
- Director James DeMonaco was once asked why everything takes place in one house, when the beginning of the film shows killings happening in the street. He cited the fact that only 19 days were allocated for filming, and the budget was limited to $2.7 million, but promised that if he ever got to shoot a sequel to this film, it would be more like the action movie “Escape from New York” (John Carpenter, 1981).
- According to director and screenwriter James DeMonaco, the idea for the film came to him as follows. Once, he and his wife were driving somewhere when a drunk driver cut them off, nearly causing a fatal accident. The conversation with the drunk driver who caused the accident quickly escalated into a fight, as he showed no remorse whatsoever. Later, DeMonaco's wife confessed to him that she would like there to be a rule allowing one to kill a person with impunity once a year.
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