Hard Candy
Directed by David Slade.
Starring Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson.
Hard Candy is deals with the complex issues of paedophilia, vengeance, and justice. The opening scenes are haunting and vaguely threatening, with precocious 14-year-old honour student Hailey (Page) meeting Jeff (Wilson), a 30-something photographer with whom she has been chatting online for the past 3 weeks, in a café. Their interaction is lightly flirtatious, despite Jeff knowing her age, and it is unsettling to watch Hailey acting far beyond her years, with more tension and threatening anticipation building up as the two head back to Jeff’s house to look at his photographs. Expecting Hailey to be the victim in this common situation, the film takes a new, far more disturbing twist when Jeff wakes up from a drugged sleep tied to a chair, with Hailey, her innocent act gone, revealing that she has tracked him down and believes that he has committed acts of paedophilia with other girls. Their interaction becomes intense and often shocking as Hailey proceeds to physically and psychologically torture him, reducing him to a sobbing wreck before subjecting him to the ultimate act of revenge and humiliation.
The film is well-directed and fast-paced, and both actors play their challenging roles very well, with Page being a standout, portraying Hailey as equal parts vulnerable child and sadistic, merciless vigilant, and in my opinion is one of the most disturbing female characters in film.
Hard Candy is brave and unsettling its portrayal of a paedophile as a victim for whom sympathy, not just abhorrence, is felt, and the film forces you to question whether Hailey’s monstrous acts in the name of justice are deserved, and whether her actions are just as vile as those of the paedophiles she detests. The questions the film raises and the sense of unease will stay with you long after you leave the cinema.
4 out of 5
Clementine Menz
