Tonight, after watching the NFL Championship games and hating that the Steelers are in the Super Bowl once again, I rewatched Hard Candy with my family. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a decent psychological thriller and didn't think much about it afterwards. However, upon further review, it's not only very rewatchable, but also has subtle perks in the film that I would challenge anyone to notice the first time around. I'm not going to do plot summary here, but I'm not gonna worry about spoiling the movie for anyone, so if you don't want spoilers, watch the movie before you read on.
The thing that stood out to me as I watched Hard Candy again the most was the overall color scheme. Director David Slade uses contrasting colors often to portray the mood of the characters or the overall scene. For the first 30 minutes, colors are vibrant and make the viewer feel a certain sense of comfort, even though a 14 year old girl (Haley) is about to go to a much older man's house (Jeff). When the tables turn after Jeff is drugged and tied up, the colors reflect the change by changing to dark, gloomy shades of grey. Throughout the rest of the movie, every scene changes colors quite a bit.
The acting is decent, Ellen Page doing a bit better job than Patrick Wilson. Page really lets the ambiguity of her character shine, with the viewer wondering who she really is. The movie poses the question of who the real villain is. Jeff never admits to killing anybody, although it is proven he is a pedofile, and Haley (if that is her real name) drives Jeff to kill himself.
Hard Candy is a psychological thriller much deeper than the highly renowned castration scene and is a must watch if psychological thrillers are a preferred genre of yours.
Overall: 8/10
I go see movies, I come on here and review them. Plain and simple.
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