The Purge news new

The Purge is a 2013 American thriller film directed and written by James DeMonaco,. The film stars Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey.

In 2022 the United States has become "a nation reborn," with crime and unemployment rates hitting an all-time low. To keep these rates low, the government has instated an annual 12 hour time period called 'The Purge,' during which people can vent their negative emotions because almost all crime (including murder) is legal and emergency services are suspended

Plot[edit]

In the year 2022 the United States has been taken over by a series of multinational corporations known only as the "New Founding Fathers of America", who in order to keep the population under control, have instituted an annual 12 hour period during which all criminal activity, including murder, becomes legal. This annual event is known as "The Purge". The only rules during The Purge is that "Level 10 ranking Government Officials" must remain untouched and usage of "Class 4" weaponry and above is forbidden. During this, emergency services are suspended and all external calls are unanswered. The Purge is designed to serve as a catharsis for American citizens, giving them a chance to vent all negative emotions however they desire and express dark impulses.

James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) is a wealthy home security developer living in a picturesque neighborhood, who has made a fortune exploiting fears of the annual purge, by selling security systems that turn homes into impenetrable fortresses. At home, Mary Sandin (Lena Headey) struggles with her two children: teenager Zoey is dating a considerably older boy named Henry (Tony Oller) whom her parents do not approve of, and Charlie (Max Burkholder), who questions the need for The Purge. Mary speaks to her excitable neighbor, Grace Ferrin (Arija Bareikis), who explains that the neighborhood is holding a "purge party". When James arrives home, the family discusses why the purge is an important part of society.

After dinner, Charlie fixes a remote controlled device he uses to film events around the house and Sandin and Mary begin the process to lock down the house. Soon afterwards, a siren wails, commencing the start of the purge; James activates the lockdown, shutting all the windows and doors. Zoey asks to be excused to her bedroom, where she finds Henry, who snuck into the house before the house went into lockdown. Henry indicates he wishes to convince James to allow him and Zoey to continue seeing each other.

James and the family watch the events of the purge unfold via video monitors in the lounge, however Charlie notices a bloodied and beaten stranger (Edwin Hodge) being chased outside the house. The stranger begs to be given sanctuary so Charlie, against the demands of his parents disarms the security system and allows the stranger in the family home, just before James locks the home back down. While confronting the stranger, Henry also reveals himself and tries to kill James who returns fire. In the confusion, the stranger disappears into the home, while Henry and Zoey make their way to another part of the home, where Henry dies from his wounds. James, Mary, and Charlie regroup in the monitoring room, until James leaves the room in search of Zoey and the stranger.

The masked strangers, led by a polite but sinister vigilante (Rhys Wakefield) trace the stranger to the Sandins' home and address an ultimatum to the Sandins via the surveillance system: hand the stranger, a homeless man, over within the hour or they will break into the house and murder everyone inside.

Using his remote controlled device, Charlie finds the stranger and leads him to a secret hiding place, where he won't be found by James and Mary. Zoey inadvertently stumbles onto the hiding place and is held at gunpoint by the stranger, but is freed after a brief struggle. James and Mary tie up the stranger, who is shown wearing military-style dog tags. James, Mary, and Charlie discuss the moral ambiguity of turning the stranger over to the purgers in order to save themselves.

The intruders successfully break into the household. The Sandins are forced into a siege to defend the house, culminating in Sandin killing the intruders. The leader of the group stabs James in the stomach with a machete but, in turn, is shot and killed by Zoey. The neighbors hear the commotion at the Sandin household and join forces with the remaining family to fight the intruders. Just as the last of the group is killed, the neighbors reveal that they too had planned to kill the family. They round up the family members, including a dying James.

Just as the neighbors are about to attack the family, the bloodied stranger comes to the family's aid, killing one of them. Mary decides to not let the purge continue and spare her neighbors as too many people had died that night. Grace makes one final attempt to kill Mary, but Mary deflects and smashes her face into a glass table. With Grace heavily bleeding out of a broken nose, the surviving neighbors leave the house and walk away as the Sandin family watch the emergency services arrive outside of their home.