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Hard Candy
2006
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67 %
Fresh
$ 7 Million
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Hard Candy
Positive Reviews
66
Negative reviews
24
Average Rating
3.2
/5
unsettling
psychological
disturbing
challenging
serious
All
Positive
Negative
2.0
Then the twist comes and the plot doesnt thicken so much as congeal into a brutal, simple minded story of revenge dolled up with thematic window dress ..
Av Club
2.8
As Hard Candy moves further and further away from its opening scenes gripping ambiguity, the frightening conviction Page brings to her role becomes th ..
Av Club
3.8
To watch Hard Candy is, at moments, to be very afraid, but the scariest thing about it is the fury of Pages talent.
EW
4.4
Now commences an extraordinary acting performance by both actors, especially Ellen Page.
Rogerebert
1.5
Also Out Now Ab Normal Beauty (Tartan, $24.99): Danny Pang Fat and Oxide Pang Chuns newest creep fest, this time featuring teen shutterbugs in love (a ..
Austin Chronicle
1.5
As scripted by playwright Brian Nelson , this virtual two hander is an obvious provocation, setting the sexualisation of youth culture in collision wi ..
Time Out
1.9
If you look at the way my films alternate, theres always, I dont knowin Pltze in Stdten theres hardly any talking, in Passing Summer lots of talking, ..
4.5
Its hard to find a warm spot in the heart for anyone here, or for those who created them.
2.5
It takes creepy, spooky, and altogether ooky to a hideous new level.
1.5
Now commences an extraordinary acting performance by both actors, especially Ellen Page.
Rogerebert
3.0
Because of its tricky subject matter and a pair of stellar performances, its tempting to give Hard Candy more credit than its entitled to.
E Film Critic
4.0
This is an extremely well made film that pushes precisely the right buttons.
E Film Critic
4.5
One of the most challenging and darkly, smartly entertaining movies of the year.
E Film Critic
2.0
Its the kind of indie film that makes its mark by a controversial theme, an infamous scene, and dines out on its film festival buzz.
E Film Critic
1.3
Hard Candy is an exploitation film, with very little happening but a guy getting tortured for about 75 minutes of screen time.
San Francisco Chronicle
4.0
A cracking little thriller which makes you think even as its keeping you on the edge of your seat. Its not always easy viewing, but Hard Candy is an i ..
4.0
The cutting edge script by accomplished playwright Brian Nelson, combined with the flashy directing style of David Slade, creates a movie that is both ..
Cinema Blend
1.5
Hard to swallow provocative but exploitative jailbait revenge fantasy flick.
Sover
4.4
Theres a lot more going on here than just a revenge fantasy. These are two fascinating characters, and watching them thrust and parry proves to be as ..
ReelViews
1.9
A great film on this disturbing subject deserves to be made, but Hard Candy is way too soft.
Combust Ible Celluloid
0.5
Personally, Id rather have this movie obliterated from my memory.
Chicago Reader
2.8
If this isnt a calling card for future work for the young thespian it will be a major shame.
4.4
She offers a warning: Just because a girl knows how to imitate a woman doesnt mean shes ready to do what a woman does.
Usa Today
2.8
As a psychological thriller, it works well enough to marginally recommend it, though.
Lariat
3.2
An intense, well acted film that deals with its alarming subject matter in an audacious way.
Eric Ds Nider
3.0
Slade and his actors keep the tension high, and the questions dont come to mind until after the credits roll.
News Review
3.5
Its not the surprise that keeps us gripped; its the deeply creepy writing and amazingly raw performances that do it.
Shadows On The Wall
3.0
a stylishly directed thriller thats worth seeing for its intense performances, but there are too few surprises and the end result is disappointing.
View London
4.5
Unreels with smooth pace and unexpected grace notes, both visually and by its two leads.
Film Journal International ..
2.5
Though it is skillfully made and well acted, its also exploitative and nauseating.
Deseret News (Salt Lake Ci ..
3.8
A smart thriller ... feels like Fatal Attraction updated for the internet age.
Internet Reviews
3.1
Lets just say that Hayley doesnt put on surgical scrubs for nothing.
Boston
4.5
I think theres plenty metaphoric about the power struggles between men and women when it comes to sex to raise Hard Candy above the level of mere horr ..
3.8
Cinematographer Jo Willems gives us a film thats atmospheric and stylish and a pleasure to look at even when things turn ugly.
Toronto Star
2.8
Though dealing with a serious issue pedophilia the movie comes across as an exploitation femme revenge thriller in the vein of Ms. 45, Extremities, an ..
Emanuellevy
4.5
Slades slick imagery, paired with the utterly ballsy story and character exploration makes Hard Candy one of the more original and grueling films to c ..
Cinema Crazed
4.0
Nevertheless, this is an extremely accomplished piece of filmmaking, hard hitting and intelligent and deserving of a wide audience.
Eye For Film
4.5
While I couldnt recommend Hard Candy for its easy entertainment value, it is worth seeing for how a relative newcomer like David Slade handles a high ..
1.0
Go for the gut and the shock value and add some obvious dumb monologues that explain deep seated troubles in the bad guy and St. Crispins Day victory ..
Movies
4.0
As an exercise in grueling psychological suspense, the movie is literally several cuts above the rest.
Flim Threet
4.0
Slade doesnt get graphic, instead using the power of suggestion with clever editing and arresting close ups.
Bbc
3.8
As frightening and unsettling as any gore drenched horror movie of the last year.
The Movie Boy
4.0
This is one particularly edgy and disturbing little film, and it will no doubt have people talking by the end of the year if not for its taboo subject ..
Bullz-Eye
2.5
Its just cheap exploitation, teasing around a serious issue and then, disappointingly, running from it.
Las Vegas Weekly
2.0
Maddeningly exploitative, the film takes a provocative subject pedophilia and wraps it in a sterile, vacuum sealed package, devoid of meaning.
Calendar Live
3.5
Hard Candy is not perfect, but it is a provocative piece of filmmaking with a dark and daring heart that makes it worth seeing.
Seattle Pi
5.0
Page is so good that if she doesnt get an Oscar nomination, somethings wrong (well, after the last three or four years of Oscar we know somethings wro ..
Tony Medley
4.2
This movie will make you squirm like youve never squirmed before.
Coles Mithey
3.1
It is a hot button thriller meant to enflame and infuriate. Yet, it is also laugh out loud funny, perversely so at times, and gosh darn it the pipsque ..
Movie Freak
4.5
Analysis: If theres one movie so far this year thats a better experience the less you know about it going in, then it is Hard Candy.
2.5
You can sense that it wants to be talked about more than it wants to actually say anything
Film Freak Central
2.0
The scenario at play here reportedly based on real life attacks on suspected pedophiles by schoolgirls in Japan is an intriguing one, but as executed ..
Boxoffice Magazine
4.2
The whole affair feels as much like a stunt as it does an exploration of crime and punishment, but is no less thrilling a ride.
E Online
1.5
Hayley and Jeff come across in almost equally repellent measure, their behaviors driven less by organic impulses than by their need to satisfy the scr ..
La Weekly
4.0
Smart, challenging and timely look at the world of internet grooming.
Mirror
4.0
Shes slender and young, energetic and comely, exactly the kind of hard candy that entices internet lurkers.
Varia Gate
1.5
A loose film, which is provocative and scandalous. But the only thing it causes is boredom.
5.0
Page brings a shocking intensity to this role that makes her one of the few actors out there who could get into a staredown with Pacino or DeNiro and ..
Waffle Movies
3.5
Strong one on one acting elevates this table turning horror show.
Window To The Movies
1.0
The real battlefield, however, is verbal, with Brian Nelsons razor sharp script spewing out scabrous barbs about the commodification of teen sexuality ..
Film Guardian
3.8
...a twisted battle of the sexes, featuring both seriously insightful subject matter and enough vicious put downs to make Peg and Al Bundy blush.
Scene Stealers
1.5
Hard Candy enters a miasma of revelation and revenge one that might have worked better on the stage than the screen, where the storys claustrophobia a ..
Or Lando Weekly
3.5
Blake Nelsons script is unsettling at times, but it isnt afraid to tackle a difficult subject. Only in the final act does the script start to lose its ..
Bowling Green Daily News
3.2
Hard Candy is the kind of movie that fairly demands coffee and discussion afterward.
Guide Live
4.2
The sexual politics are as potent as anything since Fatal Attraction, while the overarching pedophilia raises troubling and complex questions that def ..
Flip Side Archive
4.0
Thoroughly confounding the normal relationship between abuser and victim, first time director Slade presents a complex morality tale under the guise o ..
Film4
3.1
Hard Candy is tantalizing, brutal, fetishistic, gripping and exhausting, with plenty of moments for movie patrons to shout advice at the screen.
Denver Post
3.8
Doesnt let itself be pinned down as being about something, but a movie this skilled at getting under my skin doesnt need a purpose.
Film Blather
3.0
Its there to be experienced, tolerated, and appreciated for the wretched, well executed, difficult, artful, and appalling creation that it is.
Filmcritic.com
4.5
Harrowing psychological drama that pushes every conceivable button while pushing viewers over the edge... Candy is nasty through and through, and it l ..
James Sanford on Film
2.5
World Class Membership You dont have to be famous to use Contact Any Celebrity, but that doesnt stop some of our Members.
Movie Eye
3.1
Wilson and Page are compelling and Slade demonstrates a slick stylistic flair, but the over over the top shock pandering renders the dark lesson convo ..
Boston Phoenix
1.5
That all its castration talk is prolonged to willfully torturous lengths could be forgiven were the film much more inspired in its interplay.
IGN Movies
3.8
An adult thriller that will have its male audience crossing their legs or holding them tightly together.
Compuserve
4.4
It is indeed an uncomfortable subject. But Slade handles it well, and he is aided most ably by the crackling screenplay by Brian Nelson and the two st ..
The Dispatch (Lexington, N ..
3.8
... a film that gives you something to think about, raising questions that linger long after the theater lights have brightened.
Seattle Times
1.5
The tender tone, just as nostalgic as Wong Kar wais, posits the eponymous Love possibly as Hous own, caressingly remembered with all its heartbreaking ..
Cine Passion
3.0
The films strength is in the way it continually sustains suspense, particularly in the use of sound effects. Very little is shown, but much is heard.
Cinematical
4.0
Page is flawless, however, and Ill be damned if this breakthrough performance doesnt earn the pint sized newcomer an Oscar nod come next March.
Dread Central
1.8
Wilson might be playing a rapist of teenagers, but after 10 minutes of watching Page contort and stammer in such a loud, self aware fashion, he doesnt ..
Film Jerk
2.5
There is no question that Hard Candy is an intense and unnerving little film. But when all is said and done its a rather empty exercise in hot button ..
Film Force Ign
1.5
Candy sets up the tense situation, builds it up patiently, masterfully, then has no idea where to go with it. At least Pages career has an obvious dir ..
Seattle Weekly
4.4
Amazingly uncomfortable and only occasionally implausible. Its guaranteed to spark a reaction and a conversation.
Chicago Tribune
3.2
Those willing to subject themselves to it are in for noteworthy performance and one of the most terrifying films to come down the pike in awhile.
Reel Times: Reflections on ..
3.8
Page never shies away from the implication that Hayley might be deeply disturbed by her own set of demons.
2.8
Hard Candy ultimately lacks the balls to follow through on its most discomfiting promises, choosing instead to wallow in a surfeit of final reel tidin ..
Deep Focus
4.0
Its the second act where Hard Candy earns the seat squirmer reputation it will one day have.
Chud
2.5
An exploitation of a set of themes rather than a thoughtful consideration of them, and celebrates their austere nature in a stampede of scenes that ca ..
The Cinema Phile Blog
1.5
At its core, though, Hard Candy has an exploitation film heart its showy and hyperstylized dread is reminiscent of Mark Romaneks equally ooky One Hour ..
4.0
The aptly named Hard Candy is a challenging, flawed but strangely engrossing film.
Democratand Chronicle
4.4
As a thriller, films dont get much more effective than this, keeping us squirming as events twist and turn in thoroughly frightening ways.
3.8
A queasy blend of exploitation movie nastiness and blunt moral lesson.
Online Tv Guide
4.0
The acting is also top notch, as Patrick Wilson gives a desperate turn despite being tied up for much of the time, while Ellen Page steals the show wi ..
Movie Mantz
1.5
Brian Nelsons script is tight, but a more ambiguous, evenhanded finale might have been more thought provoking.
LYTRules.com
3.8
Hard hitting independent thriller about child molestation and vigilante justice.
Reno Gazette-Journal
4.4
... ts Page who really carries the picture, delivering screenwriter Brian Nelsons clever dialogue so convincingly, we actually become scared for the c ..
ESplatter
1.5
Hard Candy offers so little that is plausible or insightful about human behavior.
See Where to Watch
Hard Candy