A mature 14-year old girl meets a charming 32-year old photographer on the Internet. Suspecting that he is a pedophile, she goes to his home in an attempt to expose him.
Hard Candy crunches down on sweet castration but isn't exactly hard to watch. For some reason unbeknown to me, I like uncomfortable thrillers. Those select few films that make your skin crawl, either due to excessive scenes of torture or the disturbed nature of its story. Hard Candy is comprised of the two, but never truly thoroughly explores either one. A 14-year old girl is seemingly groomed by an older man who she agrees to meet in real life, only for the revelatory outcome that she is a vigilante suspecting him of being a sexual predator. Naturally she traps, drugs and tortures him. Now this is a rather unconventional film, flipping the typical sexual predation premise on its head. For the most part, it works. A ridiculously strong performance from Page shows her ruthlessness with a few strands of insanity. Wilson also delivers with a peculiarly captivating performance, especially when he screams in fear. Considering the film primarily comprises of these two actors, they worked well together. The narrative starts exceedingly well, particularly at making you feel uncomfortable. Wilson wiping chocolate ganache from innocent Page's lips surprisingly sent shivers down my spine. Slade's directing style, whilst occasionally erratic, ensured that the focus was on these two characters by having the camera constantly pointing at them. Whether he be panning around the room or solely utilising a long take to allow the character's anguish to convey onscreen, it always felt minimalistic yet powerful. The usage of red and white was also noteworthy, perhaps symbolising the blend of innocence and guilt. The screenplay is quick into making you assume the worst is going to happen to the girl, however there are certain traits that alleviate this presumption. Her intrusive nature, particularly forcing him to invite her round his house, and innocent demeanour somewhat put him in a predicament. Alas, the film is right to point out that "you ignore it, you don't encourage it!". It even attempts to paint a bigger picture of pedophilia by mentioning Polanski and how his career has not been hindered.
Brave, but not nearly as effective as it should've been. And that is one of my main issues with the film. It almost seems disposable and derivative, to which I do believe it could've tackled the overall theme more efficiently. The psychological torture felt unnecessary, considering she simply wanted a confession. The plan to invite his love round could've been executed immediately and the same results would've applied, therefore consequently diminishing the thrills that preceded the concluding act. The castration, asphyxiation and other methods of torture now feels like it was just implemented to fill up the runtime. Her motivation into vigilantism isn't explored and feels redundant, disabling any emotional investment towards her. In fact, the narrative surprisingly resonates sympathetic emotions towards him, despite acknowledging his guilt. And that's because his character has more backstory than hers. I just...found this film to be bizarre. It's not explicit enough with its content to be classed as a torture film, but it's not tense enough to be a thriller. Still, excellent central performances accompanied by minimalistic direction did make for a memorable, if confused, story. Ellen Page. Pedophile hunter extraordinaire.
