"Didn't Roman Polanski just win an Oscar?"

 

HARD CANDY (2005)

 

DIRECTED: David Slade

STARRING: Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson

AGE RATING: 18

 

Hard Candy is not a comforting movie. It is undeniably uncomfortable. It is the kind of film that has you pulling your legs to your stomach and holding them close so that you don’t bolt out of the room.  But in a good way.

Hard Candy is the story of Hayley, a 14 year old girl and Jeff, a 32 year old photographer. They talk over the internet and decide to meet for coffee, which leads to Jeff taking Hayley home and making her cocktails and you can see where this is going. What you don't see coming is what follows.

Hayley is intelligent and precocious and not the Little Red Riding Hood that her wardrobe suggests. Hayley is feigned innocence, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, much like Jeff, who hides his perversion behind the lens of professionalism. Hayley is a retributioner. She punishes Jeff. She punishes him for the risqué photos of underage girls on his walls, for flirting with minors on the internet, for meeting with her and giving her alcoholic drinks. For encouraging her provocative behaviour and for the death of Donna Mauer, a missing girl.

 

Whilst she may seem like a protagonist, the film has you debating who the real ‘baddie’ is. Jeff is a paedophile, but Hayley is - what? "A cute, vindictive, little bitch"? Hayley came to Jeff because of a crime she suspects he committed, but does the punishment fit the crime? Is his perversion his fault? Is Hayley bloodthirsty? The lines between right and wrong blur almost as much as the power balance between the two and it isn't always clear who is the hunter and who is the hunted.

One of my favourite things about the film is the cinematography. The setting, Jeff's home, provides a wide open space full of hard edges and cold surfaces. The overt lack of hidey-holes creates an ironically claustraphobic environment.

To make for an even more squeamish viewing experience, as though the subject matter wasnt enough, the camera work is tight and claustrophobic. Almost every scene is made of a myriad of close ups and extreme close ups and you don't miss a single dark flicker that crosses Hayley's eyes nor a moment when Jeff's vulnerable groans are anything less than defeated.

Which brings me to the acting. Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson deliver what I believe to be astounding performances. Page's performance in particular, the way that she flips between innocent-dorky-Hayley and manipulative-oh-my-god-she's-a-psychopath-Hayley with such speed and ease is alarming and the effect is devastating. Hayley is terrifying. And Page pulls it off flawlessly.

And while this may seem to be a story about paedophilia, I feel that it is a film about appearances. Jeff himself says, “You work as a photographer and you learn real quick, peoples’ faces lie.” Hard Candy is an uncomfortable viewing not only because of the controversial subject matter, provocative dialogue and intimate camera angles. It is uncomfortable because it reveals how easy it is for people to hide their true selves. How easy it can be for others to dig up the parts of yourself that you’ve buried deep, locked up in a vault under an indoor pebble garden. To use your secrets against you. It raises the question: who can you trust? Really?