This week, the Brides get smacked around with a social commentary 2x4 as we try to find anything good to say about 2013's The Purge. You know a movie is awful when even the great Lena Headey and usually reliable Ethan Hawke can't save it. This movie is atrociously written, poorly paced, and its hamfisted attempt at SERIOUS MESSAGING ABOUT AMERICA is all the more infuriating when looked at in a post-2016 election lens. Also, WHY is the focus on the affluent white family when the film's commentary keeps insisting that they're the ones who don't suffer the worst of the Purge's effects? And dear god, this director really thought was saying something profound with all of the verbal abuse heaped on the Black homeless man! This episode is blessedly short because honestly, what is there to say about this piece of garbage that hasn't already been said? Note: We do acknowledge that the prequel and subsequent Purge television show do a much better job of showing the intricacies of this whole 'all crime is legal for 12 hours' thing, but this movie just takes a good, interesting idea and does the equivalent of a bellyflop off the platform. Do you want a better home invasion movie? Go watch The Strangers (2008).

The Purge. 2013. Directed and written by James DeMonaco. Starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey.