Main cast: Jahkara Smith (Shay), McKaley Miller (Jo), Ciara Bravo (Lacey), Annalisa Cochrane (Kellyann), Jonathan Chase (Steve), Jim Klock (Kyle), TC Carter (Gabe), Jose Velazquez (Jack), Scott Porter (Pastor Seth), and Tara Parker (Lilith)
Director: Hannah Macpherson
Pure is feminist horror, and just like that stereotype goes, this is a feminist thing originated from men. Hannah Macpherson directed and wrote the teleplay for this, sure, but at the end of the day, this isn’t about entertaining the audience, it’s more about collecting pats from people online about how proud, stunning, and brave everyone involved in this thing is, and that everyone that dislikes it must be an alt-right white male Nazi. After all, Hulu already bought the series, so it’s no big deal to the people behind this show if nobody watches the thing in the end, so hey, let’s make a thing out of anti-male buzzwords!
Shay joins her half-sisters to attend a purity ball at her father Kyle’s behest. The ball, organized by Pastor Seth, soon puts these young ladies through tyrannical and even cruel dictates of proper behavior and subjects them to increasingly demeaning purity tests. The rebellious Jo led a summoning to call Lilith, the infamous harlot from the Bible turned pop culture feminist icon, back from wherever she is, and who knows, maybe this year, Lilith will show up to unleash her wrath on these men.
The cast is mostly fine, although they are stuck in roles that put them into neat boxes that have them be either ridiculously over the top caricatures of toxic male or oppressed, secretly strong inside young women that are trapped by their need for their father’s approval. As a result, they can’t do much with the materials they are given, and a part of me is relieved that nobody puts on a particularly embarrassing performance despite the lines they have to utter on screen.
Mind you, the topic they are addressing in this show is very real, especially in less progressive parts of the world. However, because this one is served through the distorted lens of pampered people in the Hollywood bubble in an effort to get high fives from imbeciles living in the online bubble, the execution ends up being a head-scratching, eye-rolling watch.
Here’s the thing. I feel this episode would have let the young ladies rebel and go on a violent spree on their own, instead of being compelled by a literal diabolus ex machina. That would have made the point about strong women far more effectively than this “Ladies overthrow toxic patriarchy!” thing by having a supernatural entity with amazing powers swoop in last minute to save them all and destroy all men. What kind of message does this movie end up making? We need to make a pact with the forces of hell to liberate women from the shackles of patriarchy?
On the bright side, this movie is gorgeous to look at. Lovely set pieces, beautiful clothes, good-looking people are all here to ensure that the last thing I can call Pure is ugly. I just wish it hadn’t taken a tortuous, muddled way to deliver its girl power message.
