David Slade's Hard Candy is a rare thing: 'œan exploitation film with virtually no sex or gore,' said Lisa Rose in the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger. The unsettling thriller centers on Hayley, a 14-year-old girl who flirts with Jeff, a 30-something photographer, on the Internet. They meet at a cafe, where they flirt some more before heading to his house for a photo session. That's where predator becomes prey. After a few drinks, Jeff wakes to find himself tied up and at the mercy of his would-be victim, who is convinced he's responsible for her classmate's disappearance. Thus begins a psychological contest, said Darrell Hartman in The New York Sun. Hayley and Jeff take turns as antagonist and protagonist, and the truth proves elusive. Hayley, who totes her doctor dad's surgical tools, threatens the kind of torture that will make men keep their legs crossed for the rest of the film. Though she begins promisingly, she degenerates into a 'œone-note avenging angel.' In contrast, Jeff, who undergoes pain and humiliation, turns into a human being. To chart the course of the characters this way is 'œa fundamental miscalculation.' That the film succeeds at all is thanks to its leads, said Michael Rechtshaffen in The Hollywood Reporter. Patrick Wilson is effective, but it is Canadian Ellen Page who astonishes. She deftly navigates the thin line 'œbetween ringing clarity and chilling instability.'
Rating: R
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