Review of Hard Candy (2005) by Sam B — 26 Dec 2011

This movie is disturbing and often fascinating. Ellen Page really holds things together in a great, terrifying early performance. Considering there are basically only two characters in the film (the other played formidably by Patrick Wilson), they do a great job of keeping the dialogue tense.

However, Hard Candy too often finds itself on the edge of believability; there is a distinct lack of explanation that leads many of the events that occur to seem highly unrealistic. I couldn't buy a lot of the movie, and it also made me cringe quite a lot, two things I can't really forgive the movie for easily.

Still, I can't really blame the movie for being uncomfortable given that is the point of it, and Ellen Page is certainly talented enough that any fans of hers who don't mind sitting through some horrifying scenes might want to give this a try.