I feel like I aged 57 years watching this movie, so it was a fitting storyline…
The cinematography is gorgeous. The story has such potential. That being said, you’ll be rolling your eyes by the third act. It’s the ending. AGAIN! There doesn’t need to be a life-altering twist at the end. Every time. Another swing for the fences, another pop-fly caught for an unexciting out. I didn’t want to attend a 2-hour medical ethics lecture, movie! And anyone who thought this beach wasn’t going to have weird things happen is insane and deserves everything that happens to them.
Annoying characters, predictable story, and an ending that will leave you rolling your eyes.
These types of films are becoming their own genre, and I am here for it. The “Stranger Things”/”Wet Hot American Summer” nostalgia-soaked adventure through well-established genres. In this case, classic horror slashers. From “Friday the 13th” camp, to the Salem witch trials, to the Stephen King “It” style adventure tying it all together.
The script was razor-sharp, the cinematography was gorgeous, and the soundtrack was everything you could ever dream of shoe-horning into this trilogy that serves as a masterclass in constructing a horror saga. There was an almost perfect balance between nostalgia and new-newness struck in these films. Characters you grow to genuinely care about by the time they have their final showdown between good and evil in the neon-soaked mall that serves as the site that ties it all together. Literally, the crossroads of the mall serves as the singular geographical point in all three generations where these stories come together.
I waited until all three were out, so I could binge them back to back. I do, however, appreciate that these streaming services have kept alive these cinematic events that can bring us all together to watch the same thing at the same time and have this kind of shared experience. They also inspired me to go on an 80’s slasher marathon this weekend, which was an added benefit.
Of note, this series was much more violent and gore-filled than I had anticipated. Not for those with weak stomachs or a general aversion to these types of content. And of course, there has to be sex before the teenagers get picked off by a masked killer with a hardware store weapon, witch, or possessed beat friend—highly recommended popcorn flicks.
I think they finally figured out how to make a great Purge movie!
The beginning got a little on the nose, which I’ve come to expect from this series. There are a couple of points where the narrative trips over itself. But I’ll be damned; they land the plane. And we finally get to wade up to our eyeballs in actual purge happenings!
The characters fit surprisingly well together, and there is an excellent twist on the usual purge film plot. I really came to care about the characters and not root for their untimely death. And… I didn’t want to walk out halfway through this one like I did the last one.
Solid recommendation on this one! A super-tight claustrophobic thriller that kept up its believability and tension the entire runtime. Where most will stumble with minor details, this film doesn’t lose itself in becoming too crazy or too over the top. Similar to “The Strangers,” it invades your safe space and leaves you deeply disturbed despite the momentary victorious comfort at the close of the finale. The crime statistics at the beginning of the film perfectly set the tone for what’s to come. (It’s insane that this is a thing.) Well written, well acted, well put together. Well worth an hour and a half.
File this one alongside “Midsommar,” “It Follows,” and “Hereditary.” The originality and intelligence on display here are off the charts!
From the score to the cinematography, everything is as razor-sharp and as detail-oriented as Enid’s discretion as a member of the British Film Ratings Board. There are so many clues in the dialogue and scenes that this shouldn’t have caught me by surprise as strongly as it did, but nonetheless, I was left in a daze by the finale. This is not your traditional slasher-thriller, though it might play off of many of the same tropes and allegories.
This film perfectly encapsulates what I love most about the genre. Great films help us contextualize and process things in our world that we may have difficulty approaching traditionally. The irony in Enid being a film rating specialist who becomes numb to the violence she witnesses and suppresses, similar to the trauma in her real-life being her downfall, was superb. The very thing she is trying to save others from becomes the thing she can’t keep herself from. As I said earlier, there are many verbal and visual clues along the way in this film that come full circle. Some even in the trailer. My jaw still dropped multiple times.
Processing of disbelief aside, I highly recommend this one for anyone looking for something out of the ordinary and thought provoking. It’s not the scariest, it’s not the bloodiest, but it is so perfectly crafted that you can’t help but appreciate the art at its highest form on the silver screen.
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 