In Internet slang, hard candy is a term used to define underage teenage girls. Hard Candy is also the title of an excellent film directed by first-timer David Slade, who had been directing music videos and tv spots until now.

The movie starts with a close up of a computer screen where we see a chat conversation between Jeff [Patrick Wilson], a fashion photographer in his early 30's, and Hayley [Ellen Page], a mature 14 year-old girl. They arrange to meet at a coffee shop, and she soon asks Jeff to take her to his home, where he usually does his photo sessions with young models. After a couple of drinks, Jeff starts feeling bad, and passes out. When he awakens, he finds himself bound to a chair at the mercy of Hayley, who accuses him of being a pedophile, a molester and even the murderer of a young girl who has been missing for days.

Hard Candy is one of those films which can be both disturbing and fascinating. Eric Campos from FilmThreat said it best: "This candy is hard to handle, but at the same time it's oh so sweet". It is extremely well-written and you can't take your eyes off the screen. Patrick Wilson [Angels In America, The Phantom of the Opera] is fantastic and believable as Jeff, but the real breakthrough of the movie is 18 year-old Ellen Page. Todd McCarthy from Variety called her performance "spectacular", which is far from being a gratuitous hyperbole. Page, in spite of her young age, is already an experimented actress whose credits include over a dozen films, including Wilby Wonderful [which won her a Genie Award nomination] and X-Men: The Last Stand, where she plays Kitty Pride. I hope Hollywood treats her like she deserves. She is set to star alongside two-time Oscar nominee Catherine Keener in An American Crime, the true story of Gertrude Baniszewski, a housewife who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 60's. Good luck.

Links:

Official site
Trailer