With 2013’s The Purge, we saw the launch of a new horror franchise, albeit one that now seems stuck in limbo. Through 2021, the series brought four sequels, but as of May 2025, a sixth Purge appears stuck in limbo.

As such, it remains to be seen where matters will go from here. For the time being, we can revisit where it all started.

Led by “The New Founding Fathers of America”, the US government declares that once a year, all activities will be legal for a single 12-hour period. This manages to reduce crime to all-time lows outside of this “Purge” period.

James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) sells security systems for a living and thinks he can use his expertise to seal off his family for this 12-hour “Purge”. However, when James’ young son Charlie (Max Burkholder) allows a desperate stranger (Edwin Hodge) entry into the home, this comes with severe repercussions.

If Donald Trump ever sees The Purge, I guarantee he will attempt to make it into policy. Keep him away from the TV whenever the film runs on cable!

Okay, enough cheap political commentary. Not that The Purge lacks its own view of society, of course.

Given that it mentions the US government now run by the “New Founding Fathers of America”, we get a clear impression that this film exists in a pretty fascist world. The movie delivers a definite vibe that utter depravity once year offers an acceptable price for peace the rest of the time.

That creates a clever and thought-provoking concept. Unfortunately, Purge fails to explore this notion in a dynamic manner.

Honestly, the entire “Purge” exercise exists here as nothing more than a way to give the story a twist. Despite the unusual idea at its core, The Purge offers nothing more than a pretty “standard issue” home invasion thriller.

Which acts as a disappointment. The movie’s conceptual hook really does seem intriguing, and it seems like a good way to dig into some social domains.

Beyond some token nods, The Purge essentially ignores these. As mentioned, it exists to give us a battle between a beleaguered family and those who desire to do them harm.

I will say that Purge makes James more of a slippery character than one would expect. As a home security salesman, he actively profits from the chaos of the annual blood-letting, and he seems A-OK with the death and destruction as long as it doesn’t impact him.

Indeed, the film makes it pretty clear that the “haves” like James feel the “have nots” – the homeless, the chronically ill, the poor, etc. – essentially deserve their fate. These people don’t exist as truly human to the Purgers who hunt the man Charlie admits into the human,

Again, these notions provoke thought, but Purge just doesn’t touch on them in a meaningful manner. It lacks subtlety and fails to go down paths that explore its domains well.

Purge also just never becomes an especially strong thriller. While the well-to-do weirdos who pursue the injured man create creepier than average villains, this fails to create a creepier than average experience.

Nothing about Purge flops, and at a mere 85 minutes, it doesn’t wear out its welcome. With Hawke and Headey in tow, we also get better performances than one would expect from a micro-budget horror flick.

Still, Purge sticks to the tried and true too much to live up to the potential implied by its concept. This becomes a watchable thriller and nothing more.

The Purge appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The film came with a solid presentation.

Overall definition worked fine. Thanks to some lower-res photographic elements at times, a little softness inevitably popped up, but the majority of the flick appeared accurate.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain leaned a bit heavy but that suited the movie’s stylistic choices, and source flaws failed to appear.

The flick’s palette leaned toward a subdued sense of amber and teal. Though the colors didn’t dazzle, they seemed appropriate for this narrative.

Blacks came across as deep and dense, while low-light shots felt smooth. This ended up as a satisfying image.

Given the nature of the story, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack went with a fairly standard sensibility for a thriller. That said, the mix opened up pretty well.

Occasional moments of violence used the channels best. These spread around the room in an involving manner.

Other scenes also used the spectrum in a compelling way, as the effects created a convincing sense of place and action. Music formed good stereo presence as well.

Audio quality satisfied, with speech that came across as concise and distinctive. Music appeared full and rich.

Effects provided accurate material and enjoyed a nice kick during louder sequences. All of this led to a strong soundtrack.

A featurette called Surviving the Night runs eight minutes, 54 seconds. It delivers notes from writer/director James DeMonaco, producers Jason Blum and Brad Fuller, costume designer Lisa Norcia, co-producer Jeanette Volturno-Brill, and actors Ethan Hawke, Edwin Hodge, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane, and Max Burkholder.

“Night” covers the movie’s origins and development, story and characters, cast and performances, costumes, sets and locations. The program comes with a few decent details but it largely feels promotional.

The disc opens with ads for Curse of Chucky, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, Bates Motel, Dead In Tombstone and Machete Kills.

Previews adds promos for Scarface, Contraband, End of Watch, Killer Elite, Safe House, The Place Beyond the Pines, Side Effects and The Debt. No trailer for Purge appears here.

Although The Purge comes with a clever basic concept, it never develops its ideas past their most basic forms. This leaves it as a pretty standard issue home invasion thriller without much else to make it memorable. The Blu-ray boasts strong picture and audio but it lacks substantial bonus materials. I wanted to like The Purge more than I did.

Note that this 2025 Blu-ray reissues the movie’s prior release in 2013. The 2025 BD simply reproduces the same disc from 12 years earlier.