Anarchy Is Worth Watching

Warning: This review contains major spoilers. If you don’t want anything revealed, please watch the movie before reading the review.

Prior to the DVD and Blu-ray release of Anarchy, I expected the second installment of The Purge to be more along the lines of a horror movie. You know, the overemphasis of blood and gore with the occasional tinge of surprise at every turn. But after watching The Purge: Anarchy, I see the movie as more psychology than a conventional horror.

            If you’re not familiar with the horror saga, the whole premise behind The Purge is to imagine a United States of America where, for one night, all crime is legal---including murder. Then the majority of the movie is spent following a group of people as they try to survive the night. Now, I didn’t watch the first Purge, so I cannot make any comparisons between the first and second movie. But I have seen quite a few horror movies and thrillers. And if there is one thing I like about this movie, it is how believable the situation that the characters find themselves in, is. I am not trying to come off as anti-governmental. Government, as irritating as it might be at times, has its uses. But envisioning a government that allows the murder of its own people as a form of population control is not entirely unrealistic, especially considering the current pace of population growth. The point I am making is that many successful horror movies (as well as any other film) are successful mostly because the audience can relate to the strife and circumstances of two or more of the characters.  Anarchy definitely did that.

For instance, I can relate to Eva Sanchez (played by Carmen Ejogo), the mother of the strong-headed Cali (played by Zoe Soul). As old and helpless as she seems in the beginning, Eva shows great strength throughout the movie in how she pushes her body and mind in order to both preserve her sanity through all the madness, and protect her daughter from physical and mental harm. She even lies to the Sergeant (played by Frank Grillo), who saves her and her daughter from certain death multiple times. She tells him she has a friend who can provide the Sergeant a car to go and exact vengeance on the man responsible for killing his son. Near the end, she doesn’t hesitate to take command after the Sergeant is gravely wounded.

For me, the daughter is not as relatable. She proves to be a little too headstrong. Inquisitive and fierce but on numerous occasions, stubborn and a little too full of bravado. Not as much of a leader as her mother or the sergeant. However, her capacity to question authority and the actions of those in charge keeps the sergeant from abandoning the group, and in the end, keeps him from making a terrible mistake.

So the movie has a great and relatable plot. In addition, the plot is rather straightforward to follow but not entirely predictable. For instance, I expected the sergeant to die at the end. In many horror films, the character following the path of vengeance tends to determine his/her own demise, realizing the flaws of his/her objective a little too late. Instead, the sergeant survived the night but was mortally wounded. Surprisingly, the person responsible for his son’s death was also one of the people who voluntarily helped him to the hospital.

Finally, I loved the ending. Unlike Cloverfield, where the fates of the main cast members were either undetermined or unfavorable, this movie made it clear whether much of the cast lived or died. To my delight, most of the cast survived. Also the message of vengeful murder not being the way to go, was kindly received. All-in-all, the movie is filled with relatable characters, a great plot and an appropriate costume design. I rate this movie an 8.5/10.

There were a couple scenes I did not enjoy, either because they were avoidable or the actions taken/not taken by the characters made no sense. Nonetheless it was a solid movie and one worth watching.