Hard Candy (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Hard Candy is an independent 2005 psychological thriller film that covers the topic of sexual abuse of young girls, focusing on a confrontation between a sexual predator and a 14-year-old girl he attempts to ensnare.
The film was directed by David Slade, written by Brian Nelson, and starred Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page. It was the first feature film for Slade, who previously had worked mostly with music videos.
Plot
The film opens with a flirtatious online conversation between a man and a woman, who agree to meet in person for the first time at a cafe. The two are then revealed to be Hayley Stark (Ellen Page), a 14-year-old girl, and Jeff KohlverTemplate:Ref label (Patrick Wilson), a 32-year-old photographer. After some flirtatious conversation, Hayley suggests that they go back to Jeff's house, to listen to a mp3 Jeff recorded. Once there, Hayley makes them both screwdrivers, after telling Jeff she doesn't drink things unless she can be sure of the contents. As they drink, Hayley suggests that Jeff take some photographs of her, similar to the ones of young girls he has displayed on the walls of his home. When Jeff returns with his camera, and begins taking pictures, he begins to feel disoriented, passing out.
Jeff wakes up tied to a rolling chair. Hayley explains she drugged him, accuses him of being a pedophile, and begins to search his house for evidence. She finds a stack of letters addressed to and from Janelle, Jeff's ex-girlfriend for whom he still has feelings. Eventually she finds photos of a pedophilic nature in a safe in his rock garden. Among them is a picture of Donna Mauer, a girl who had been kidnapped and killed, but Jeff insists that he is not guilty. Jeff kicks the distracted Hayley onto the floor and manages to wheel to his bedroom and get a gun. When he returns, Hayley wraps his head in plastic wrap and forcing him to pass out again.
When Jeff wakes up, he is tied to a table with a bag of ice on his genitals. Hayley informs Jeff she is going to castrate him, as a kind of public service. Jeff attempts to convince Hayley to stop, threatening her, offering to turn himself in, offering her money, pleading, and telling her a story about an early pedophilic instance he experienced as a child. None of these efforts work and Hayley "proceeds" with the operation. Afterwards, once Hayley is gone, Jeff breaks free from his bonds, discovers the operation was faked, and then, scalpel in hand, seeks out Hayley in the shower. Hayley blindsides Jeff from behind and shocks him to the point of unconsciousness with a stun gun.
When Jeff comes to, he finds himself standing on a chair with a noose around his neck. Hayley tells him that she has written a fake suicide note and called his ex-girlfriend Janelle (Odessa Rae), telling her to come to the house. She tells Jeff that he should simply kill himself before he is revealed as a pedophile and promises to remove all evidence of Jeff's crime. The exchange is interrupted when a concerned neighbor (Sandra Oh) knocks on the door. Hayley answers and is able to convince her that everything is fine. When Hayley returns, Jeff breaks free from the noose, grabs a knife, and pursues her onto the roof, where she has created another noose and holds him off.
As Janelle finally arrives at the house, Jeff confesses that he did have something to do with Donna Mauer's Death, but that he only watched while his partner actually did the killing. Hayley reveals that she had known all along, and that, "Aaron [the other man] told me you killed her before he killed himself." Janelle is outside the house now, knocking, and Hayley reminds Jeff that he can still end it, and she will destroy the evidence. Reluctantly, Jeff puts the noose on, while Hayley reassures him she will destroy the evidence. Jeff walks off the roof, and Hayley says, "or not". She gathers her belongings and escapes through the woods, walking down a road.
Inspiration
The idea for Hard Candy came from a news story on 20/20 producer David W. Higgins saw about young Japanese girls who would lure older businessmen to a location with the promise of sex and would assault and mug the men with a gang of other girls once the men arrived. This led him to wonder, "What if the person you expect to be the predator is not who you expect it to be? What if it's the other person?" He then hired writer Brian Nelson to flesh out the idea.
