You Need To Watch The Purge (2013)
- Lee
- Oct 27
- 17 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
The Purge, right? I mean almost everyone knows the premise: All crimes are legal for 12 hours. March 21st each year. 7:00PM-7:00AM.
There are some caveats to this, such as you can't use certain classes of weapons and usually government officials are immune to being Purged
There are also unspoken Purge rules, like not harming medics, certain people are untouchable, no being a hero, etc.
It's pretty simple to understand and a fucking stupid premise, right?
We could not have been more wrong.
I'm going to give a "brief" scene by scene overview, through a series of essays, of each part of the franchise.
I'm then going to break down how each installment delves into classism, American government propaganda, feminism, the dangers of capitalism, and how vital community support is.
Now, over the years, The Purge (2013) has actually become my least favorite of the series, but it perfectly sets the dark, yet hopeful tone for the rest of the franchise.
This will include spoilers. The only spoiler alerts will be before character deaths.
Timeline:
The movie opens up with the text:
“America. 2022. Unemployment is at 1%. Crime is at an all time low. Violence barely exists. With one exception...”
"Blessed be the New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls, Blessed be America, a nation reborn."
Next, there are scenes of Purge footage: murder, robbery, assault, gruesome images with a lovely classical song in the background.
We transition to Ethan Hawke driving through his suburban, upper class neighborhood.
He's on the phone with a client, talking about how the home security system he installed is going to be all ready for Purge tonight.
We learn that Ethan Hawke's character's name is James Sandin and that he is the #1 salesperson for the Purge security equipment company he works for.
While he's driving, he's listening to a radio station, which becomes an integral part of the franchise and TV series.
The first thing we hear on the radio show is a caller talking about how the Purge targets the poor, that they are the real victims of this night.
The radio host dismisses the caller by saying that we all get to have our own opinions and “that's what makes this country great.”
Differences of opinion cannot include blatantly ignoring facts or human rights.
Then the host asks how listeners are spending their Purge night:
One woman is staying in, behind her new Purge security system.
Another guy is hunting down his boss.
“More people will be Purging this year than ever before, America's streets will be running red tonight when people release the beast in record numbers [...]
Don't forget to display your blue flowers outside your home to show support for the Purge and thanks to the New Founding Fathers.”
James Sandin comes home, his wife is cooking dinner, everything is normal, routine. He brought home blue Baptisias (showing his Purge support.)
They're talking about their daughter's teenage problems with an 18 year old boy: “he's not getting any younger, she's just going to have to sulk, she'll get over it.”
They turn on the news:
“History has proven this over and over again, we are inherently a violent species, wars, genocide, murder; the denial of our true selves is the problem. The purge not only contains societal violence to a single evening, but the country wide catharsis creates psychological stability by letting us release the aggression we all have inside of us,” this scientific looking man states.
Their teenager daughter is sneaking around with the older boy, having one of those cringe “I wolf you” from You moments where they growl instead of saying I love you. It's fucking terrible.
The teenagers comment on one of the neighbors sharpening a machete next door. Violence has become so normalized.
Their neighbor, Grace, brings over cookies.
Other random neighbors show up and they wish each other a safe night.
Grace talks shit when the other random neighbors leave.
Grace comments on how their year wasn't as successful as the Sandin's and that the neighborhood paid for the new addition to their house. They resent the shit out of the Sandins.
Grace says she isn't having her annual Purge party, they're just staying in and watching Purge events, relaxing. Typical rich people shit.
We see a moving floor shot, heading towards the mother Sandin (learn her name) and scares her, she starts talking to the camera.
We learn she's talking to a robot, named Timmy, who looks like the creepy baby-doll from Toy Story.
This thing Timmy is remote controlled by their son, Charlie (who I think is autistic as fuck, but maybe I'm projecting)
The mom opens the fridge, and if you've seen any horror movie ever, then you know a jump scare is about to happen.
We find out that Robot Timmy has night vision and a quiet motor (plot convenience??) and likes to play songs from “olden times.”
Kid was dissociated as fuck and his mom goes, “are you worried about tonight?” like, yeah, bitch, I don't exactly love murder night.
And she tells him that he needs to remember all of the good that the Purge does, gives him a snack, and it's all chill again.
There are no carbs in their dinner, not one.
Ethan Hawke's daughter hates him.
Charlie is the only one I like.
Chopping off penis joke?? What's a “dormatorium, dad?”
??
This scene is to show how very normal family they are.
Lock-down starts.
They notice that neighbor Grace is still having her annual party she said she wasn't having. They're grateful not to have been invited because Grace is annoying.
“Release the beast and Purge in our American streets. Your New Founding Fathers encourage your participation.”
Purge Warning
Weapons of class 4 and lower.
Ranking government officials 10 are exempt.
PURGE ALARM
“I know bad things do happen tonight, but we can afford protection, so we'll be fine just like always, no worries, okay?”
His daughter fucking hates him.
Their son asks his dad,
"Why don't you guys do it?"
"We don't feel the need to."
"If you felt the need to, you would kill someone tonight?"
(Ethan Hawke, in his head, "You idiot ass kid") "Tonight allows people a release for all the hatred and violence and aggression that they keep up inside them, okay and.. yes, if your mother and I were so inclined, we would participate. Because it works. You don't remember how bad it was, Charlie, the poverty, all the crime. This night saved our country."
Angsty daughter's boyfriend snuck into their house. His name is Henry, but that doesn't really matter. He's just a creep and, spoiler, he dies like 25 minutes into the movie and has a total of maybe 2 minutes of screen time, all of which are spent being a weirdo, calling this 16 year old mature for her age.
The news is on in the background of a working Ethan Hawke.
"Discussing the Purge with criminologist Tommy Aagaard:"
"Now, is the Purge really about releasing aggression and containing violence? Or is it something else?
Purge detractors (sane people) often postulate this evening is actually about elimination of the poor, the needy, the sick. Those unable to defend themselves. The eradication of these so called non-contributing members of society ultimately unburdening the economy. Is the Purge really about money?
Either way, crime is down. The economy is flourishing."
And that makes it all okay : )
Typical suburban mom stuff: running on the treadmill, disassociating into the mirror, cooking dinner, being scared shitless by her kid, etc.
Then, it goes back to creep-o mcweirdo and angsty daughter, and he says, “I didn't come here to see you, I came to see your father. It's time to straighten this out. He cannot forbid you from seeing me. It's crazy.”
Daughter begs boyfriend to not talk to her father, saying that it's not going to be okay. But boyfriend leaves the room anyway. (Typical man)
More news in the background to fill us in on why the Purge happens and the public opinion/propaganda being spread:
"America was collapsing. A quadruple dip recession, followed by a full market crash. A skyrocketing debt, multiple wars, and a significant dollar devaluation... All precipitating the worst economic disaster in the history of the United States. Crime and poverty rose exponentially and the New Founding Fathers, just months after being elected, came up with this audacious notion, the decriminalization of murder for one night. A lawful outlet for American rage. A way to contain crime. The undeniable fact is this is working."
Wife is all like, gunshots on Purge night?? In their rich neighborhood?! Ethan Hawke is like, yeah, no shit? It's the fucking Purge. Stop thinking about it and let's watch some TV.
We see a lot of the movie through Robot Timmy's lens and viewpoint. Very fun choice stylistically.
Charlie, while controlling Timmy, sees someone running across the security monitor.
This reaction gets cut off by Creep-o the clown talking about how he's going to talk to daughter's dad and that he's going to get through to him.
Then Ethan Hawke is shown looking at boats for sale online, talking about how ten years ago they could barely afford rent. Showing, again, how much they have profited off of the Purge.
Return to Charlie and the computer monitor:
He runs out to the security room, and turns on the sound and hears this man pleading for his life, saying that they're going to kill him, begging for anyone to help him.
“I don't want to die. I don't deserve this. Why won't anybody help me? I just need somewhere to hide!”
Charlie unlocks the security system and runs to get the man to come inside.
This man, Dante, is going to become an integral part of the rest of the franchise.
Back to boyfriend: He, in slow motion, walks out of Zoey, the daughter's room.
Ethan Hawke has a gun on him, “just for emergencies.”
Boyfriend says "Mr. Sandin" and then just starts shooting at him, which Ethan Hawke manages to avoid completely.
SPOILER: He ends up shooting and killing the boyfriend.
Just a poorly executed plan all around.
Ethan Hawke is so pissed at his kid for letting a stranger into their house.
Ethan Hawke says that he's going to go find Zoey. He comes back later, having accomplished nothing.
They're all very scared of this man that's in their house.
Valid. They don't know that he's not a threat, yet. Plus, he's skulking around their house all suspish.
The mom, daughter, and Charlie come back together in the security room.
Zoey is crying about how her boyfriend is dead, and the son is trying desperately to get his mom's attention, but she's a bit preoccupied.
When Mom turns to Charlie, the daughter runs off like a jackass.
The parents look at the monitor Charlie was trying to show them, which shows a bunch of masked weirdos walking up to their house. The one in charge starts talking:
“Mr. and Mrs. Sandin, your home tells me you're good folk, just like us. One of the “haves”. And your blue flowers tell me that you support the Purge. (hey! That's the name of the movie!) We want to treat you fairly, so listen closely. Let me introduce us, we are some fine, young (why does he say young like that?), very educated guys and gals. We have gotten gussied up in our most terrifying guises, as we do every year. Ready to violate, annihilate, and cleanse our souls. But things took a turn. Our target escaped us and, uh, several of your dear neighbors informed us that you, The Sandins, have inexplicably given him sanctuary. Mister and Missus, the man you are sheltering is nothing but a dirty, homeless, pig. A grotesque menace to our just society, who had the audacity to fight back, killing one of us when we attempted to execute him tonight. The pig doesn't know his place and now he needs to be taught a lesson. You need to return him to us. Alive. So we may Purge as we are entitled. Here's the plan, Sandins, you have until our provisions arrive, provisions which will help us break into your elegant home. If you don't... If you don't deliver him by the aforementioned time, we'll release the beast on him and on you and, um, we can enter any home we want and we will want, because wanting is our will on this fine night. Don't force us to hurt you. We don't want to kill our own. Please just let us Purge. Toodaloo, Sandins”
They cut the lights, and the Sandins are looking terrified. When his wife says they're not able to break in, right? James Sandin says,
“I don't know, it's hard to say.”
To which his wife responds with, “You sell these security systems. What do you mean, you don't know?”
"We've tested the system. It works 99 percent of the time. It looks good. It's strong. People stay away."
"It looks good?!"
"It's not built for worst case scenarios. Is it impenetrable? No, nothing's impenetrable. Things like this are not supposed to happen in our neighborhood."
"Calm down. Sit down. Listen. To answer your question, yes, they could get in here. They could tunnel underneath us, they could smoke us out, they could devise a battering ram, okay, I'm sorry, but it's true."
They plan to catch the homeless veteran that's taken sanctuary in their home and give him over to these preppy ass fucks.
When their son asks, why should he die? James says that it's either him or us.
“Why won't you deliver the homeless man? No one will miss him when he's gone. Pretty please.”
They waste time trying to find this guy in their house. Like, a ton of time. Their son, Charlie, is directly undermining their search, helping him hide by using his robot to guide the man into his secret spot.
“Why haven't you delivered the filthy swine to me yet? Are you protecting him? I certainly hope not.”
This guy's face is creepier than their masks.
The daughter tells Charlie's robot that she's going to hide in his secret spot because she can't find anyone.
Rather than staying in their security room, where her parents are most likely to find her and stop worrying about her dumb ass, she goes right where the man is hiding and it causes quite the commotion:
The man that's hiding in their house takes their daughter hostage as a way to bargain for his life.
Wife ends up attacking him from behind, they subdue and torture him in front of their screaming kids for a few minutes before the wife is like, what the fuck are we doing to another human being?
(Oh! Wife's name is Mary!)
Mary says, "Look at what we're doing to this man, I can't do this, it's so wrong, don't touch me, look at you, what the hell happened to us?" All while Ethan Hawke is like, just do it, look at me, it's okay.
Ethan Hawke is in it deep, and only after his dead eyed, traumatized daughter says, “It's not gonna be okay. Look at what you're doing. Nothing is ever going to be okay again.” does he even consider doing the non-fucked up thing.
The tied up Stranger tells Ethan Hawke to do what he has to do to save his family. “Save your children, take me outside.”
Ethan Hawke finally realizes they cannot surrender someone else's life for theirs and says “we're gonna fight” after giving his kid a gun and sending him alone to the basement.
They wasted so much time attacking the Stranger, when they could've been preparing.
“You failed to deliver the homeless swine. I'm very disappointed, as you fine folk should know better! That piece of filth that you are protecting exists only to serve our need to Purge. So I bid thee farewell, sweet Sandins. Release the beast, boys! Let the killing commence!”
The Purgers break down their security system with little effort and start breaking into the house through the front door, the windows, the basement, basically the Sandins are fucked.
Also, they just left the unhoused man tied up while the people are breaking in, which is a super-douche move, if they're trying to save his life or whatever.
Their kid in the basement gets attacked by a Purger, but his dad comes to the rescue just in time (the studio said they couldn't kill kids, so he gets plot armor.)
Head Purger is real creepy about the 16 year old daughter and alludes to wanting to assault her, meanwhile she's hiding under the bed.
Wife has been unknowingly stalked by one of the Purgers for like 10 minutes, is not properly covering herself, and just wandering around like easy prey.
Ethan Hawke blasts three of the Purgers, gnarly pool table fight, bashes a dude's head into their pinball machine.
SPOILER: Ethan Hawke kicks ass for a full three minutes and then gets the dopest knife shoved into his tummy by Head Purger.
“Your soul has been cleansed, Mr. Sandin. You've Purged. Just one question for you, was his life really worth yours? Your families? Thank you for this unforgettable Purge, Mr. Sandin.” and kisses his forehead. Probably improvised, I'd kiss Ethan Hawke's forehead, if given the opportunity, too.
The Purgers have pretty much taken over the home.
Charlie looks on the camera monitors and sees a group of people walking toward their home. They shoot the Purgers that are outside.
Wife is essentially cooked when two people (random neighbors from the beginning, if you remember) emerge from the hallway and shoot the Purgers and leave. Lit.
Gunshots are heard throughout the house.
SPOILER: Mary sees that James has been stabbed. Her and Charlie go downstairs to be with him while he dies.
Main Purger comes out with his gun, says, “Thank you for your sacrifice. You have a lot of heart, Mr. Sandin. Blessed be America, a nation reborn” and then gets the fuck shot out of him by Zoey, who had her dead boyfriend's gun the whole time. She apologizes to her dying dad.
SPOILER: Ethan Hawke dies.
All of their neighbors come out of the shadows, they killed all of the other Purgers, Mrs. Sandin is grateful that they came to their rescue.
Neighbor Grace says,
“Don't thank us too much, Mary. The truth is, you're ours, not theirs. [...]
James is dead, Mary and the kids will have to do. Let's tie them up, we'll kill them right here. [...]
When your barricades came down, we saw an opportunity to cleanse ourselves of our hatred. You made so much money off of us and then you just stuck it in our faces. You all think you're so damn perfect. [...]
We'll be better people and you'll have sacrificed yourselves to make the world a better place.”
The neighbors start their weird chant, “Blessed be the founding fathers for letting us Purge. Blessed be America, a nation reborn.”
Robot Timmy comes rolling into the room, playing his oldies, and the Stranger bursts out, shoots a few of the neighbors and takes Grace hostage.
It goes hard as fuck.
He tells Mary it's her call on what she wants to do with them.
“We are going to play the rest of this night out in motherfucking peace. Does anyone have a problem with that?”
They all sit at the dining room table for the most uncomfortable hours that I'm sure have ever existed.
Grace tries to take Mary's gun and Mary rocks Grace's fucking shit.
“Didn't you hear what I said, no more killing tonight! Is that hard to understand?” Grace spits out blood and the Purge sirens go off.
“Now, get the hell out of my house.”
Mary asks the Stranger if he's going to be okay and says thank you, and he wishes her luck on his way out.
Police and ambulance sirens are heard throughout the city as the family looks out at all of the bodies in their yard.
News reporting as the credits roll:
Reports are coming in from all around the country, as police, firefighters, and paramedics...
The New Founding Fathers have released a statement saying this was the most successful Purge yet.
I am walking, I should say stumbling, through Los Angeles and there are literally bodies everywhere...
...they were dragging people out and just executing them in the street...
Hundreds have gathered in Times Square for a public vigil, thanking all those who were killed last night for their sacrifice to make this country a safer place.
They are turning people away from emergency rooms in Brownsville, as there is simply no more room...
The markets were up this morning as both gun and home security system quarterly sales reports were released, announcing profits in both sectors.
We have 364 long days until the next Purge, so let's get all our Purge talk and analysis in today while our thoughts are still fresh...
I lost my two sons last night... my boys. Yeah, I was a proud American. Not anymore. This country has taken everything from me.
Thoughts After Movie Recap:
SPOILER: It's honestly probably best that Ethan Hawke's character died. His wife looked at him with pure disgust, his daughter already hated him, the neighbors hate him, and both kids watched him torture someone. Plus, he didn't come around to do the right thing until way too late in the game.
Bruh, I hope they fucking moved after that.
'After Purge Home Makeover Channel'?
This movie parallels how our country throws away our veterans, claiming to support our troops and tossing them aside when they come home.
(Look up how many veterans are homeless today, VA benefits being cut, no mental healthcare, etc.)
The preppy college kids calling this man a homeless swine, a pig, existing just for them to murder, no recognition for this man, his life, anything about him other than the fact that he's homeless.
So many times we ignore the unhoused, we look away, avoid eye contact, devalue their lives.
We dehumanize people for being a victim of capitalism.
We let money decide a person's worth, not recognizing how one emergency room visit, a partner dying, losing a job, or a multitude of other things could be the difference between us and being unhoused.
The Purge Events that Americans watch in this movie speak on how desensitized Americans are to violence.
And apathy in America today, how little we value human life, and how easily we can lose our humanity.
We deal with several mass shootings a week, everyone owns guns, and we see cruelty after cruelty and turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.
Most people don't get to ignore the brutality of their lives, but we, the privileged, get to sit on the sidelines and watch.
The Sandins are representative of liberalism in the United States.
Privileged Americans sit at home and watch people get murdered on TV, bowls of popcorn, kids around and shit.
They sit in their lavish homes, see the suffering of others, but do not care enough to do anything about it.
You can see that this family doesn't like weapons, doesn't want to participate, knows that this is wrong and just sit back in their privilege and enjoy their wealth.
Charlie represents compassion. Charlie displays the empathy that each person is born with and how circumstances can take that away from us.
He shows kindness throughout the entire film, even when it could cost him his life.
He questions everything, he doesn't just follow blindly, he feels deeply for the pain of others.
He knows the Purge is wrong, he sees what his parents are doing is wrong, he knows that they shouldn't do this to another person.
He actively tries to save this man, someone he's never shared a single word with, and he believes that his life holds inherent value.
This family has the choice not to Purge each year, while profiting off of the fear and death of others.
They get to choose to sit behind their walls, in their huge home without a second thought.
We watch their world shatter when their choice is taken away from them and now are being hunted by Purgers.
The thing that pushed them up, supported their lifestyle is the very thing that rips them apart.
Most people don't get to make the choice whether or not to engage in the Purge.
People don't choose to be poor, to be discriminated against, to be targeted.
The poverty isn't improving, the poor are being eradicated.
The homeless problem isn't being solved, the homeless are being killed.
There will always be another unhoused person to kill under capitalism. There will always be another person to go after.
Capitalism and the rich cannot thrive without the poor, without someone to turn the people against so that the people never turn on them.
Having the poor kill the poor, the rich kill the poor, civilian killing civilian keeps the people in line.
The general public feels safe and capitalism keeps pushing along because it's transparent that money is what keeps you alive in this world.
We see how little corporations and politicians care about their consumers through James Sandin.
He knew that his security system wouldn't withstand Purgers, knew that it only served as a deterrent because it looked good. He felt safe in his upper class neighborhood, so he didn't take proper precautions, and failed to protect any clients that he sold the systems to.
Corporations do not care if we live or die. We are just dollar signs to them.
Companies every day sell products that they know are harmful to consumers; the alcohol and tobacco industry are notorious for killing their most loyal customers.
They bargain with our lives.
The radio station host shutting down the genuine concerns of people about how this night targets the poor, by saying we are "allowed to have our own opinions" is infuriating.
This one doesn't really need explaining, we've all been pleading for our right to exist and someone retorts with some DiFfErEnCeS oF oPiNiOnS bullshit.
Why are we still dealing with this 12 years later?
It doesn't have to be this way, there is almost always a compassionate choice to be made. We can offer refuge to those in need, we can be supportive of each other, fight for each other when we need each other. We cannot let money, greed, and fear take away our humanity, our community, or our love for one another.
We are not inherently violent. Where there is war, there are always those fighting for peace. When there is genocide, there are those who fight to live. And when there is no justice, there are those who fight like hell to restore it.
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