10 Terrible Movies That Wasted A Truly Brilliant Concept
6. The Purge
The Concept: The Purge takes place in an alternate reality where the U.S. government has enacted a deeply disturbing policy; once a year, all crime will be legalized for a 12-hour period, during which all emergency services will be suspended.
It's a bold political statement, and as setups go, that's about as creative as they get. How would people act if they could do literally anything? The Purge attempts to explore that question.
Why The Movie Failed: The Purge is a great film to watch if you're interested in learning how to completely waste a brilliant idea.
Most people probably went to see the movie based on its 'legalized crime' hook alone, expecting the movie to explore different crimes, different parts of the city, different classes of people.
And those expectations left a lot of viewers feeling sorely disappointed.
The Purge is a by-the-numbers home invasion thriller, complete with all the tropes you'd expect from that sub-genre.
It doesn't leave the house in which it is set, a frustrating decision that leaves you stuck with one story of one family in one confined location, on a night when the entire nation is in turmoil. Why not branch out a bit?
Thankfully, the film's two sequels explored the effects of Purge night on a much broader scale, but that hasn't stopped the first movie in the series from being an underwhelming disappointment.