Having already starred in the thriller Arkansas earlier this year, Vince Vaughn is returning to his comedy bread and butter before summer 2020 is over for Hulu’s latest original movie, The Binge. Following in the footsteps of the critically-acclaimed Palm Springs, this looks like another unique cinematic offering from the streaming service, not the least of which because Vaughn looks very different with a mustache.
Take a look at the first trailer for The Binge below, which takes the general premise of the Purge franchise and filters it through a much more amusing lens.
Within the Purge universe, for one 12-hour period every year, all crime is legal, including murder. The Binge’s world has a similar holiday set in place which isn’t nearly as horrific, but similarly can lead to things getting out of hand: for one night a year, all drugs and alcohol are legal. So while this version of the United States in the near future is “prosperous, clean and sober” nearly all of the time, everyone who’s a high school senior or older can go wild with the controlled substances and booze for a brief period of time each year.
A gloriously mustachioed Vince Vaughn appears in The Binge as the principal of the school the main characters attend, and he clearly doesn’t mind making fun of the people who go way too far with their binges, as evidenced by how he talks about alum Kimberly Jones, who burned her face while imbibing and riding a jet ski that exploded. There’s also an amusing bit towards the end of the trailer where Vaughn’s character, who sounds like he’s searching for his daughter and her friends, ends up at a house with women who are celebrating their Binge more quietly, but are evidently down for things to get more… freaky.
The Binge’s main narrative, however, follows, Skyler Gisondo, Dexter Darden and Eduardo Franco’s characters: Griffin, Hags and Andrew. These three are looking to make one last great high school memory during the Binge holiday, with Griffin specifically looking to tell Grace Van Dien’s Lena that he’s has romantic feelings for her. So along with boasting some Purge elements, The Binge also has a Booksmart vibe going for it.
The movie’s other cast members include Zainne Saleh, Zakary Odrzykowski, Joel Carlino, Hayes MacArthur and Tony Cavelero. Jeremy Garelick directed and co-produced The Binge, and Jordan VanDina wrote the script. With Hulu still relatively new to the original movies game, fingers crossed The Binge ends up anywhere near the same kind of success Palm Springs did earlier this summer.
The Binge drops on Hulu August 28. Find out what else the platform has already delivered this month or has on the way before August is over with our handy lineup.
