At the movies, The Purge franchise fills a rather specific void in the horror genre: these blood soaked B-movies provide rather blatant but captivating social commentary. But how will this franchise work on the small screen, with weekly installments of carnage and analysis? Based on the pilot, the transition will be clunky, to say the least.
Taking place at an unspecified time between the third and fourth film, this version of The Purge follows various different people during the titular “holiday” – most of whom are trying to avoid participating in it. During the first hour, we meet Jane (Amanda Warren), a hardworking businesswoman who opts to spend the night at her (generically detailed) office, apparently to work on a difficult merger… but it appears she has ulterior motives.
Then, there’s Jenna (Hannah Emily Anderson) and Rick (Colin Woodell), a middle class couple (both of whom are in love with the same other woman) who attends an upper class Purge party with the hope of garnering a loan for a passion project. And, finally, there is Miguel (Gabriel Chavarria), a former Marine in desperate search for his sister (Jessica Garza), who ran way and joined a cult who plan to sacrifice themselves during the Purge. This first season will follow these characters for 12 hours – who will survive?
More importantly: who will tune in to future episodes? While The Purge films are all well under two hours – most approach 90 minutes – this series seems like it’ll be a punishing ten hours or so, filled with grim violence and torture more brutal than typically seen in the films. While the particularly grisly moments are hidden just off screen, or obscured through an annoying Instagram-esque filter, there is still an overwhelming feeling of dread and despair that permeates through all the suspenseful moments.
Even worse, the series delves into levels of violence that the film doesn’t dare approach. While sexual violence isn’t depicted onscreen in the series, the mere suggestion of it adds a whole new, disturbing layer to the franchise that feels unnecessary. Another scene depicts a ritualistic offering that closes out the first episode on a dark, sour note. While the films certainly wore their R-rating with pride, they always had a B-movie quality to the horror – this feels like televised torture porn.
It also doesn’t help that the acting and direction is uniformly sophomoric. There isn’t a single strong performance to point to in the first episode – a majority of the performers either over or under act, making for an awful blend of camp and self-seriousness. The direction, meanwhile, tends to feel somewhat static and disinterested from the outrageous subject matter at its core. At its worst moments, it comes off as a student film. The pilot’s sole redemptive quality is its score, which is minimalistic and frequently swoops in at just the right moment.
While The Purge films have consistently given their audiences a reason to return to the theaters for another round of carnage, it’s hard to imagine this series becoming anyone’s idea of a binge watch, or even weekly appointment viewing. And that’s a shame too – it’d be interesting to see where the series can go from here, and what unique characters or organizations can be introduced to the universe. But there just isn’t anything here to latch on to, and the particularly sadistic violence only makes the series more off-putting. This one just isn’t worth the watch.
Overall rating: 2 out of 10.
