The premise of The Binge is fairly simple: What if The Purge met Project X to create a teen comedy about drugs and alcohol? While The Purge franchise has mined its premise of a near-future United States where all crime is legal for a 12-hour period for plenty of horror and thrills, The Binge goes a much more light-hearted route, imagining a near-future where all narcotics and alcohol are illegal except during a 12-hour period. The movie follows a group of 18-year-olds taking part in their very first Binge, and each has their own goals to achieve during the night. The Binge is as ridiculous as its premise implies, which can be fun at times, while others it's a bit like a wild ride you wish you could get off.
The Binge follows high school nerds Griffin (Skyler Gisondo) and Hags (Dexter Darden) as they reconnect with their former friend Andrew (Eduardo Franco) as a necessity to get into the biggest party of the Binge. Together, the three set out to get to the party, where Griffin intends to ask the girl of his dreams, Lena (Grace Van Dien), to prom. For their parts, Hags wants to become a Binge legend by competing in and winning the Gauntlet - a series of drinking and drug-related challenges - while Andrew's just happy to have his friends back. And meanwhile, their school principal, Principal Carleson (Vince Vaughn), is searching for Lena, his daughter, who's snuck out of the house. Getting to the party isn't as simple as it seems, but Griffin, Hags and Andrew are in for a Binge they'll never forget.
Written by Jordan VanDina (Animaniacs) and directed by Jeremy Garelick (Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever.), The Binge effectively puts its own spin on the premise of making something legal during a short period of time that would ordinarily be illegal. Perhaps the cleverest parts of The Binge are in its world-building, imagining a near-future U.S. that's a lot like ours but anti-drinking PSAs are replaced with anti-Binge notices, and there are tons of rumors circulating the high school about what it's like to be on drugs/under the influence of alcohol. The first two-thirds of the movie, when the world is being established and the main characters are exploring a world during the Binge, is the film's strongest. Unfortunately, the third act devolves a little bit, pulling out a couple twists to engineer the movie's ending, some of which work, and some of which don't.
But even with its clever premise, The Binge is ultimately only a so-so high school teen comedy that often seems more preoccupied with delivering drug-and-alcohol-fueled comedy than developing its characters. Vaughn's Principal Carleson suffers the worst of this, as his character takes a sharp turn a third of the way through the movie and it's never really explained. Similarly, Gisondo's Griffin, Darden's Hags and Franco's Andrew are thinly sketched characters, largely defined by what they want to get out of their Binge night. Although there are some sweet moments for the three as they rebuild their friendship and form a stronger bond, even that is played mostly for laughs. As a result, The Binge may deliver some funny moments, but there's little heart at the center of this movie and its characters likely won't stick with viewers.
In the end, The Binge is a fine, superficially entertaining high school story, with some fun surprises in store, but isn't poised to be the next great comedy. Some of the movie's best aspects may be down to it being a loose parody of The Purge, with the premise setting the stage for some cool world-building and humor. But when The Binge finally gets into the meat of its story and away from the world-building, it's not as fun nor is the story as well-crafted. Still, there's some fun to be had in The Binge, particularly in one wild sequence leading into the third act - though, again, this sequence is used to mask some holes in the plots (in this case, the scene is so fun it's largely forgivable).
As a result, The Binge is an entertaining enough watch for those already interested in the premise - or those who are in need of a new movie to check out from the comfort of their home. It's by no means a must-watch and isn't nearly as inventive as Hulu's Palm Springs that released earlier this summer, but The Binge will keep viewers entertained for its roughly 90-minute runtime. Ultimately, The Binge is fun enough to keep viewers hooked, even if it's the kind of mind-numbing entertainment the people in this movie's world are chasing in drugs and alcohol.
The Binge is now streaming on Hulu. It is 98 minutes long and is not yet rated.
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