All in all, The Purge is a problematic film, wearing its politics on its sleeve and embracing nearly every cliché imaginable with the standard home invasion scenario.
This is a darkly fascinating and original story that doesn’t end well for anyone involved, but it has a lot of heart. It's good to see Jen and Sylvia Soska get a break and keep moving upward and onward.
It's the kind of thematic resonance that was missing from the last two episodes and helps to provide a bit more gravity without overtly sacrificing the family-friendliness.
This is exactly what I was hoping for with Gimple in charge. Quiet stories of madness and desperation, with horrible things happening for a reason, rather than just lurching out of the darkness.
But in the process of the film, each of the main characters either can't restrain themselves from murdering humans, do it in a dream state, or otherwise give in to their passionate animal side. And then everybody feels bad.
Not only are there some nice and scary bits scattered throughout the anthology, there are also some of the most bizarre and mind-boggling short films I've ever seen.
The film does a good job accentuating Daniel's emasculation and possible psychological break before firmly establishing an otherworldly influence on the events in the house.
There's a lot to like here just in the concept alone, but the combination of Levine's clever script and Hoult's heartfelt performance that really brings Warm Bodies home.
Mancini's direction is sure-handed and effective, from the choice to shoot most of the film from Nica's wheelchair-bound eye-level to the choice of music cues.
