Fridae

A cautionary tale about the dangers of meeting people over the Internet (and not just because they are “not my type”), Hard Candy is more Hard than Candy, and this film that touches on paedophilia is a really tough movie to watch without squirming. And even more disturbing — many audiences will probably feel some form of sadistic glee at the end of the film, and discovering that you are in touch with the “dark side” could prove unsettling.

The film opens with an online chat between Hayley (Ellen Page), a smart 14-year-old teenager, and Jeff (Patrick Wilson), a thirty-something fashion photographer, that leads to them setting up a meeting at a coffee joint. It seems to be Jeff's lucky day — Hayley is ready for fun, and soon she's at Jeff's place getting ready to strip for an impromptu photo shoot. That is, until Jeff passes out and finds himself tied to a chair, and Hayley planning to make him confess to his penchant for underage girls, regardless of what it takes to make him talk — and she has some pretty convincing means...

Hard Candy's execution is similar to that of Saw — it is basically a movie about the interaction of characters in a confined space, and all the action and dialogue revolve around the two central characters.

Watching Hard Candy is like watching roadkill — it is morbid and fascinating at the same time, and even though your mind tells you to look away, it simply cannot be done. Ellen Page is brilliant as Hayley, and her uncompromising performance alone is worth the price of entry. Patrick Wilson serves as a good foil to Page, and although neither character will find empathy with audiences, since both are seriously flawed in their own ways. It is an uncompromising film, but also one of the best released this week.