"The Purge: 2024" is an American live action short film from 2017, so this one will soon have its fifth anniversary and it is in the English language. There is not a great deal of talking though, so you can also enjoy (or I should rather say watch) it if you are not a native English speaker and maybe even if you are not fluent in the language. The most special thing about this project is maybe writer and director Ashton Gleckman, who was only 16 or 17 when he made this. And he has been really prolific already in several departments, not just writing and directing, but his most prolific department was actually music as he worked as a composer on really many projects. This short film here runs for under 14 minutes and is set in the future as we can see from the title already. It is a bit of a postapocalyptic world we got here and anarchy is a big thing because as we find out from a voice in the background, there is a period of time in which everything is allowed, even killing people and there is no legal punishment for actions like these. All that follows is basically what happens between a group of people trying to kill a seemingly easy target and said target until we hear the sound briefly before the end that the period is over. Or is it?
Initially, I kinda liked the costumes as I mistook them for makeup, but the group of people you see in here are no trolls (maybe real life trolls) or mutants, but just humans wearing a mask and their target is the one without the mask. My appreciation vanished relatively quickly though as these masks and looks felt quickly style over substance as well. I do like forests and the haunting atmosphere attached to them, so I thought I could maybe appreciate this film more as basically the entire second half is set in the wood, even if it was daytime. The ending then with the reaction of the target once the purge is over is maybe what stays most memorable from this movie. I am undecided myself if it was really cool or just try-hard, but even if I go for the former, then this cannot save the movie or anything with all the weaknesses and mediocrities from before that. Of course, taking the director's age into account you can say that way older filmmakers have made weaker or equally forgettable fan films, but this just says something negative about them and nothing positive about Gleckman. I think the rating here on imdb is pretty accurate overall. It's not a good film and I give it a thumbs-down. The fight sequences did not win me over either, even if I kinda liked the lead actor. He reminded me a bit in terms of looks of one from the long-running television series Dexter. I am drifting a bit away now, so I shall leave it at that with the suggestion that you skip the watch here. Go for something better instead. My guess also was there could be a sequel with the ending, but seems as if it has not happened already and given the time passed since 2017, there probably won't be s follow-up. Most likely for the better. Oh I see now this did not get lots of attention because of the virus and all that and potential parallels, but because Gleckman is working on a new Kennedy documentary series that will maybe score lots of attention, as writer and director and, yep, composer. Could be a career deal-breaker for him. Good luck! I hope it turns out better than this one here. He is still so young, only 20.
Initially, I kinda liked the costumes as I mistook them for makeup, but the group of people you see in here are no trolls (maybe real life trolls) or mutants, but just humans wearing a mask and their target is the one without the mask. My appreciation vanished relatively quickly though as these masks and looks felt quickly style over substance as well. I do like forests and the haunting atmosphere attached to them, so I thought I could maybe appreciate this film more as basically the entire second half is set in the wood, even if it was daytime. The ending then with the reaction of the target once the purge is over is maybe what stays most memorable from this movie. I am undecided myself if it was really cool or just try-hard, but even if I go for the former, then this cannot save the movie or anything with all the weaknesses and mediocrities from before that. Of course, taking the director's age into account you can say that way older filmmakers have made weaker or equally forgettable fan films, but this just says something negative about them and nothing positive about Gleckman. I think the rating here on imdb is pretty accurate overall. It's not a good film and I give it a thumbs-down. The fight sequences did not win me over either, even if I kinda liked the lead actor. He reminded me a bit in terms of looks of one from the long-running television series Dexter. I am drifting a bit away now, so I shall leave it at that with the suggestion that you skip the watch here. Go for something better instead. My guess also was there could be a sequel with the ending, but seems as if it has not happened already and given the time passed since 2017, there probably won't be s follow-up. Most likely for the better. Oh I see now this did not get lots of attention because of the virus and all that and potential parallels, but because Gleckman is working on a new Kennedy documentary series that will maybe score lots of attention, as writer and director and, yep, composer. Could be a career deal-breaker for him. Good luck! I hope it turns out better than this one here. He is still so young, only 20.
