Hard Candy (2006) Review

Written by: jackalqueen   

Call me sick but I loved this film :o) Bearing in mind the film has only two characters for almost all of it, the acting is amazing, Ellen Page especially, as it keeps you drawn in right from the start. 

The story centres round a teenage girl who has been chatting to a photographer online and arranges to meet him for a photo shoot.   She drugs him and when he comes round, he is tied up and she tries all manner of nastiness to try and get him to confess to an involvement in another young girls disappearance.  He is convincingly innocent and you are really not sure which one to believe, especially because she is not a very likeable character and you are desperately hoping he'll prove her wrong and wipe the smug grin off her face.

There are some moments of silliness, like the fight scenes where she gets the better of him a couple of times and you just know that in reality he could throw her over his shoulder without breaking a sweat.  The ending also lets it down slightly as it all seems too easy and unrealistic but on the whole this is quite enjoyable, albeit in a sick and twisted way, and watching the hunter become the prey is very satisfying due to the paedophilic storyline.  There is one scene in particular which I won't spoil but if you're a man, I defy you to watch it without wincing and crossing your legs but if you're a woman, you'll say 'I wouldn't have bothered with the ice' .