It’s always interesting to live during the times depicted in films, and to see how accurate the filmmakers’ predictions were.  There were no Mattel Hoverboards or self-lacing Nikes in 2015, per Back to the Future Part II (1989), but girls were wearing those puffy vests.  New York City isn’t a massive prison colony—at least, not as depicted in Escape from New York (1981).

And in 2022, crime runs rampant all the time, not just one night a year.  Even so, it’s still technically illegal to murder, steal, and pillage (unless you live in California), so 2013’s The Purge isn’t 100% accurate in that regard.

The Purge is one of those films that does what horror/science-fiction do best:  asks unsettling questions about human nature.  In an age where we like to believe violence is rare and brutish, The Purge argues otherwise:  that we need an outlet for our pent-up rage and frustrations, and it should be all let loose on one bloody night.

Would it work?  It’s too horrendous to contemplate—even if one night of mayhem would cure the ills of crime the other 364 days of the year, the cost would not be worth the benefit.  It would also be grossly immoral.

But it does offer an intriguing look into how society functions, and the things we do to protect ourselves.  The film also explores the nature of envy and greed.

Regular contributor Pontiac Dream 39—now Always a Kid for Today, or just “Mike”—offers up another excellent film review.  I’ve largely left it unedited, other than mild style changes, so enjoy his British spellings of words—and his trenchant insights into a disturbing film with a fascinating premise.

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