Hard Candy (2006)

This is a film I was sorta nervous about seeing. I knew the subject was chat room predators and that's scary territory for the mother of two young teens. But I needn't have been fearful on behalf of the teen at the center of this situation.

It's obvious quite early in that Hayley's not as wide-eyed as her appearance would suggest. I'm a fan of righteous vigilantism (in movies, anyway), so I was pretty on-board with the happenings here. Sure it's uncomfortable at times, but the tension is seriously diminished when the bad things are happening to bad people.

There was a point when I was a bit lost as to the purpose of the psychological aspect of the afternoon, but I chalked it up to the propensity for drama in young girls. Only at the end do the reasons why surface. For me, I felt a suspension of disbelief was necessary...would the plan really have worked? Twice? But the performances are so strong and the story so original, that I didn't mind so much.

B-