Movie review: The Purge (2013)

The year is 2022. United States celebrates a special night known as the purge. This event consists in committing all kinds of crimes (including murder); the victims can be of any social class, although those preferred by the participants were homeless people and families. 

James Sandin (Ethan Hawke), a seller specialized in security systems, prepares for such a "great" night; he had recently reached the top spot in the sales record of the company where he works. That news made his wife Mary (Lena Heady) and his children Zoe (Adelaide Kane) and Charlie (Mark Burkholder) very happy. However, things were not going to be as peaceful as expected, since an act of mercy from the family's youngest would start what it would be a hellish night.

I found its plot interesting, although I felt that they could develop it better if they wanted to present a probable near or distant future about a society that is "liberated" every year by committing all kinds of atrocities among its members for any reason. Perhaps what can salvage the film, apart from the decent performances of the cast, is the constant moral debate between what is right and what is not, between compassion and hate. While James intended to deliver the tramp to the purgers, Charlie insisted that he could show mercy; while Mary showed mercy towards her neighbors despite they tried to kill her and her family out of mere disgust and envy, the purgers did not show mercy to anyone who is from a different social class .

Before the events that happened in the film, one as a spectator wonders how far a society could go in order to "free itself from its demons".