Say what you will about The Purge as a franchise, it has a fairly solid premise. A single night in which all crime is legal is the kind of idea that doesn't make much sense but does provoke the imagination. In 2020, a filmmaker imagined the same concept, but if the only crime was drug use and the participants were mostly insufferable teenagers. It didn't work out.
There are a lot of strange idiosyncrasies in The Purge that are ripe for parody. It's a massive franchise, despite its humble beginnings. Unfortunately, the world of spoof comedy has fully completed its long death spiral, so the first high-profile attempt at mockery has fallen flat.
On paper, Jeremy Garelick's The Binge has a good central concept. The Purge pitches a near-future United States in which, for one night every year all crime is legal, but it doesn't really deliver on that idea. Why is murder the only crime anyone in this reality has any interest in? If the yearly Purge were real, could you imagine anyone you know putting on a mask and attempting to stab a fellow human being to death? Of course not. The overwhelming majority of people wouldn't take advantage of the Purge. Or, at least, they wouldn't do it in the way the films imagine. Most people would use the yearly consequence-free night to steal stuff, indulge in some frowned-upon vice, or just get unbelievably high. Director Jeremy Garelick and screenwriter Jordan VanDina took that last idea and ran with it, pitching a near-future America in which, for one night every year all drugs are legal.
The problem with The Binge's theoretically sound premise becomes clear after actually watching a Purge movie. The premise of the franchise sounds simple, but there is depth to its presentation. Upon closer inspection, The Purge and its sequels are actually about a government that uses the promise of freedom to eliminate its poor and minority populations. It's about the New Founding Fathers, a transparently right-wing political party that wins over the nation with jingoistic nationalism and compels their voters to kill fellow citizens. Later entries in the franchise show the government hiring killers to ensure that the body count is high enough. It's a political satire series that explores the hate, fear, and violence done to the weak by the powerful. The Binge, on the other hand, is exactly as stupid as it sounds, and lacking any depth to its lame studio comedy proceedings is the poison pill that kills this film.
As for the narrative, the year is 2032 and the United States has won the war on drugs, in stark contrast to the one in real life. Drugs and alcohol are fully outlawed, except for one night a year. This means that the nation breaks out into a massive party colloquially called The Binge for 12 hours every year. The film follows three teenagers; a nice guy, a troublemaker, and a weirdo, as they prepare for the big night. There's a girl going out against her overprotective father's wishes, Vince Vaughn shows up as a fast-talking school principal, and it's all so boring, dull, and obvious. There's nothing interesting about the film, the main characters are almost impressively unlikable, and the jokes have all been done before in better films. The only reason for the film's existence is its ostensible connection to the franchise it's supposed to be a parody of. Even in the tradition of big dumb teen party movies, The Binge fails to stand out.
The Binge doesn't work on its own merits, but could it have worked as a parody? Maybe they could've aimed for a less brainless tone. Maybe the film could've had anything at all to say about drugs, drug users, the United States legal system's response to drugs, legalization, or anything else involved in the plot. It's tough to imagine a version of this movie with a brain. The tone would not have fit any serious message about drug policy, even with the complete lack of subtlety that is common to The Purge. Without anything interesting to say, The Binge can't even enter into conversation with the film series it's meant to parody. It's just limply attaching itself to a franchise with some name recognition, borrowing its taglines and iconography, and shipping a boring mess with the vague hope to sucker in an audience.
The Binge dropped on Hulu. There's no way to know what kind of viewership it earned, but critics were not kind to the film. Against all odds, a sequel is reportedly on its way. There's plenty of room for a parody of The Purge and all its earnestly simplistic political satire, visceral horror action, and comical nightmare world. The Binge isn't much like a fun night out, but it is reminiscent of a bad hangover.