Hard Candy - 2005

I have put off doing a post on this movie, because my sister Julie once told me "I'm tired of you raving about a movie and then saying 'but I don't think you'd like it'." I have to admit, I am attracted to difficult subjects and often find myself wanting to recommend a movie and then not being able to think of anyone who could stomach what I just watched.

But then I figured, what else are blogs for! =) So, I give you Hard Candy. A film about a 14 year old girl who takes it upon herself to bring "justice" (or revenge?) to a pedophile she finds online. It's an incredibly tense, but brilliantly executed game of cat and mouse. I know that this is said about practically every thriller, but I reckon Hitchcock would have loved to make this movie! It's claustrophobic, twisted, terrifying and breathlessly suspenseful without showing any real nudity or gore.

The script is so tight! Every word is there for a reason and so much is said between the lines. The direction is creative and fresh. Most of the movie takes place in one room but it feels like your watching a car chase at times.

There are basically only the two characters in this film: the girl played by Ellen Page and the predator played by Patrick Wilson. Both actors give stunning performances that left me speechless - the casting couldn't be more perfect! When this movie came out, a lot of attention was given to Ellen Page who became an instant star (much like Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone...another movie definitely worth mentioning, perhaps it'll get it's own post). But I thought Patrick Wilson's charming, calm, friendly, human portrayal of someone with a heinous vice was refreshingly real. It's so easy to label certain criminals as monsters because their actions are monstrous. But we are all real people and who struggle to keep the monster within at bay. Some people struggle more than others, and some people's failures leave more devastation than others.

The plot is simple but the themes are complex. All of us have a God-given desire for justice and mercy. Hard Candy really plays on that in a profound way. What should justice look like for a pedophile? At first you're cheering on this 14 year old girl for turning the tables on this guy, but then over time she starts to look more and more like a young, female Moriarty.

I think everyone is going to take away something different from this film. For me, I loved how it challenged my assumptions about justice and mercy; I loved how it tackled such a difficult subject with confidence and energy. But most of all, it reminded me that only God can bring true justice. Only God can redeem those hurt by evil. The tension of justice and mercy is only walked well by us through His leading.