I hadn't heard anything about The Purge, but today the first synopsis has been released, and it sounds quite fascinating.  Presumably, this was the secret project "Vigilandia" that we reported on back in January.  The "speculative thriller" takes place in a world where the government sanctions an annual 12-hour period where everything—including murder—becomes legal.  During this madness, a family inside a gated community fights to survive without turning into monsters themselves.  I can't help but wonder if there's an ounce of political commentary in the premise that a world without police, hospitals, and other basic services becomes a pure libertarian paradise.Hit the jump to check out the synopsis.  The film stars Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey.  The Purge opens May 31, 2013.Here's the official synopsis for The Purge:

If on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? In The Purge, a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home. In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity—including murder—becomes legal. The police can’t be called. Hospitals suspend help. It’s one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin’s (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide.

Directed by James DeMonaco (writer of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Negotiator).

The Purge is produced by Jason Blum of Blumhouse (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister), Platinum Dunes’ partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), as well as Sébastien Kurt Lemercier (Assault on Precinct 13).