The Purge Trailer Arrives

Though it sounds like a romantic comedy set in a vomitorium (Hollywood, the rights to that and the genre “vom-com” are available, call us!), The Purge is actually a low-budget speculative thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey and spawned from the Blumhouse team. Get a look at the trailer over at Apple.

Feeling a little bit like The Strangers (masked intruders!) crossed with an episode of The Outer Limits, The Purge – originally titled Vigilandia when it was announced early last year – is set during one violent night for a suburban family.

See, in the film’s future America, crime and social unrest got so bad that the government hatched a desperate plan. Now, every year, there’s a 12-hour period where all laws are suspended, the emergency services shut up shop and anyone can do what they like. Surprisingly, this appears to have worked – at least in the movie’s world – because unemployment is down to record lows and crime has dropped sharply. Nobody pass this idea on to David Cameron. Nobody.

But during the Purge each year, those who choose not to indulge their criminal tendencies hide behind security doors on their houses. Hawke’s James Sandin, his wife Mary (Headey) and their two kids are content to wait it out... Until a stranger breaks into their yard pleading for sanctuary. When they let him in, trouble follows in the form of weapon-wielding vigilantes.

Written and directed by James DeMonaco, The Purge is out in the US on May 31. No UK date is listed yet.