Purge

PURGE, an Australian sci-fi film directed by David King and distributed by Troma Entertainment, is one of those rare productions that is truly só unusual in its story and visual flair that it's virtually impossible to compare it to any film. At best, one can see slight parallels here and there with films such as Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, George Lucas' debut THX1138 and Andrew Niccol's Gattaca. But that's it, for PURGE has it's own, unique quality.

Made with a minimum of means, but a maximum of talent and resourcefulness, PURGE is set in a parallel universe where people are artificially created by genetic engineering companies and programmed for certain roles in life. To fail to assume the role you've been bred for is to become what is called a Stray and be treated worse than a criminal. These outcasts are therefore condemned to lead an underground life.The androgynous leader of a group of Strays, Peta (Meda Royall), wants to make an end to all the suppression by deprogramming people who've been altered by the state.

Intercut with visually arresting mock commercials, news reports and current affairs interviews, the fragmented story tells of the trials and tribulations of a young woman, Layla (Sarah Breen). She is unable to assume her preordained role as BDSM mistress-slave and forced to join Peta's organization. But Layla is a harder nut to crack than Peta had ever thought, resulting in several tense moments and – stunningly choreographed – fights between the two. This all culminates in a mesmerizing and incontestably surprising finale that you absolutely could not have seen coming.

What is also admirable is the fact that in spite of a profound hearing impairment, King not only wrote, produced and directed the film, but also served as production designer, sound designer and editor, did additional cinematography and even created some of the visual effects. And all this has been done in a way that enhances the bizarre, out of this world and sometimes genuinely unsettling look of this film. Yes, King is without a shadow of a doubt a multi-talent to look out for!

A unique, stylish, unusual and intriguing cyberpunk drama and thriller, as well as a cult classic in the making – that's in brief what PURGE is. I can highly recommend it to anyone who'd like to step into a completely different world!

Seems a lot of IMDb voters don't like this film. I suspect they were seeking conventional sci-fi with action, CGI and possibly stars. A lot of people can't imagine sci-fi being anything else.

This film has none of that but some very interesting ideas about genetic engineering and programming for roles in life. It's a film that suggests if we don't care about each other, if we lose sight of what it means to be human, to love someone, we will doom ourselves as a species.

But it also has hope. It suggests that no matter what kind of control various governments or other control systems seek to impose on people, humanity will eventually reassert itself.

Some of the things I enjoyed about it were: a compelling and unusual story that asks the viewer to think and refuses to take the usual sci fi route of a hero triumphing over adversity (it's more complex than that); an original style which made liberal use of mock news reports, community service announcements, commercials and current affairs interviews as well as things like text and titles, rapid cutting and images within images. In short, a film which is not afraid to take risks.

I also noticed that some of King's mise-en-scene echoes those of several all-time great films - A Clockwork Orange, North By North West, and THX1138 come to mind.

I enjoyed it but as another reviewer says, it's not for everyone. If you like passive entertainment with predictable stories and lots of whizz-bang and bang bang, you probably won't enjoy Purge. But I see that people who like that sort of thing have also liked Purge so it's really up to the individual.

It's a pity those IMDb voters who didn't like it can't find the words to say why.

As an ultra-low budget quasi-sci fi experimental narrative, Purge is most definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

But for me and for people I know, it's an interesting and unusual film made by a filmmaker who approaches film as an art form rather than as simple entertainment.

I won't go into the story here as other reviews have covered that. I'll just say that King is not afraid to use techniques that directly contravene the idea of sucking an audience into a story and pulling them along for the ride.

He even uses titles and text to deliberately jolt the audience out of passive viewing mode just as Jean-Luc Godard did with his political films in the 1970's.

This is one of the many things that makes Purge an interesting film to the people who like it – a profound knowledge of cinema and sense of daring to go beyond the conventional entertainment experience.

It's interesting that Lloyd Kaufamn himself liked Purge and personally picked it up for distribution.

Purge was made for less money than many Hollywood films would spend on makeup alone. But that didn't bother King – it drove him to seek new and different ways of doing things and thus create a film unlike any other.

As Mr Kaufman himself said – a true original....where most films today aren't.

Purge, I believe, is pitched at people who see film as an art form rather than as mere entertainment.

I hope this helps people to decide whether or not it is the kind of film they would like to see – for those who have voted it down haven't helped anyone understand anything at all about the film.

Nobody here or in the External Critic Reviews is a friend or family member of the director. They are people the director doesn't even know and wouldn't know if they walked in the door. They are people who simply liked a film which was different.

The purge is a great movie which force us to think what if it happen in reality.the concept of this movie is really outstanding.