Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Hard Candy
Lions Gate Films


8.9

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 187 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

30 Days of Night

MPAA RATING: R for disturbing violent and aberrant sexual content involving a teen, and for language

Starring Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page, Sandra Oh, Jennifer Holmes, and Gilbert John

A cat-and-mouse psychotic thriller as incisive as it is stylish, Hard Candy delivers a provocative take on the revenge drama while jangling nerves at every turn. The film plunges us into an unstable universe where we cannot readily identify the "good guy" in the tense confrontation between a 14-year-old girl and the 32-year-old man she suspects of pedophilia and murder. (Lionsgate)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Brian Nelson
DIRECTED BY:	David Slade
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: September 19, 2006 Theatrical: April 14, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	103 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Film Threat Eric Campos

A tough sit, but it attracts more than repels you. It commands your attention. Once it lands its hooks in you, there's no tearing away.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

A film that forges identification with its victimized heroine like none I've seen in decades. (The Nova Scotia–born Page, a Molly Ringwald type who was only 15 when the movie was made, leaves little doubt as to whether a kid can play a grown-up's icky game and win.)

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

To pull this kind of thing off you need exceptional performances, and the two leads rise commandingly to the challenge. Wilson, best known for his work in the screen version of "The Phantom of the Opera" and HBO's "Angels in America," keeps his true colors effectively muted throughout the bulk of their face-off, but it is Page who astonishes.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

These are two fascinating characters, and watching them thrust and parry proves to be as impossible to turn away from as observing a grotesque roadside accident.

USA Today Mike Clark

Hard Candy, a highly original psychological thriller/revenge fantasy, can be bitterly hard to take and uncomfortably intense, but it's well worth consuming.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Hard Candy is impressive and effective. As for what else it may be, each audience member will have to decide.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The film was reputedly inspired by Japanese teens who trolled chat rooms to find predators, made assignments, then ganged up to beat offending adults.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Despite the hot-button pedophilic story hook (I'm surprised Jeff and Hayley didn't meet on MySpace.com), Hard Candy ultimately beats with the heart of a stagier, more complicated psychological revenge picture along the lines of Roman Polanski's "Death and the Maiden."

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Hard Candy is extreme - a battle of the sexes that glides from tricky to angry to shockingly ugly.

Empire Caroline Westbrook

It's not always easy viewing, but Hard Candy is an intelligent, challenging film which deserves to be seen.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

The most extreme English-language studio release I've seen in years.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Hard Candy not only trips along a tightrope line between exploitation and art; in some ways, that line is its subject.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Winda Benedetti

Hard Candy is not perfect, but it is a provocative piece of filmmaking with a dark and daring heart that makes it worth seeing.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A psychosexual thriller that treads a thin line between art and exploitation. The mere fact that it manages this queasy high-wire act is what sets debut director David Slade's slick mind game apart from the drooling pack.

New York Post Kyle Smith

The prize for most sick-making movie I've ever seen goes to . . . that Driver's Ed film I saw when I was 16. The psychological thriller Hard Candy is right up there, though. I didn't know whether to applaud or barf.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Inspired by accounts of underage vigilante girls in Japan turning the tables on Internet predators, playwright Brian Nelson's schematic tale of the hunter captured by the game, a queasy blend of exploitation-movie nastiness and blunt moral lesson.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

To give the film its due, the direction is expert, the writing is shrewd, the cinematography is stylish, and the performances are extraordinary... Hard Candy is also sadistic in its own right, relentlessly ugly, entirely heartless and eventually unendurable. It's torture.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A spectacular performance by teenage thesp Ellen Page elevates this disturbing slice of designer shocksploitation into a film that's impossible to dismiss on principle.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Hard Candy is the rare movie that may be worthiest for the arguments you'll have after it's over.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The more things drag on, the more monotonous they become and, by the end, Hard Candy has devolved into a rather transparent game of one-upmanship in which Hayley and Jeff come across in almost equally repellent measure, their behaviors driven less by organic impulses than by their need to satisfy the script's elaborate series of reversals and counter-reversals.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Had they ended 20 minutes in, "Wedding Crashers" would qualify as a gut-busting triumph, and Hard Candy would be a miniature masterpiece.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It takes creepy, spooky, and altogether ooky to a hideous new level.

Baltimore Sun Gene Seymour

As gripping as Hard Candy is, one can't quite shake the feeling that we're the ones being exploited by its mordant blend of kinky revenge fantasy and push-me-pull-you moral vision.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Maddeningly exploitative, the film takes a provocative subject -- pedophilia -- and wraps it in a sterile, vacuum-sealed package, devoid of meaning.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

High-minded sleaze, the film deceives you with its first 10 minutes, which are interestingly creepy.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Icky, incoherent thriller.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Though Hard Candy clearly believes pedophiles should be chopped into little pieces and buried in an unmarked grave, its only purpose is exploitative. Sure, it's a cautionary tale for all those sicko wolves out there, but it's nothing more than an unabashed lurk-and-dread fest.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

During the ensuing narrative unpleasantness and visual incoherence (meaningless choker close-ups, pointless slow motion), Hayley subjects Jeff to a range of torture, all in the name of, well, what? Despite the two fine performances, it's hard to say.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

With Hard Candy, the innocent are tortured along with the guilty -- the innocent, in this case, being the audience.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Tautly directed by David Slade, this drama probably offers more sadism than anyone could possibly want...The characters are absurd, but if you're up for this sort of thing, then surely you can con yourself into accepting them. Personally, I'd rather have this movie obliterated from my memory.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 187 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

spike lee joint gave it a10:
Whats with this movie, its too good. Not allowed. This town isn't big Enough for two incredible dream come trues. There's orgasms and "hard candy". Damn right I made fu**ing room for two. Twos company, threes a party with God.

Juno macguff gave it a10:
Holy sh**! What did just witness. A true masterpiece. How did the oscars miss this and catch a horrible movie like crash. The script for this movie was incredible. Patrick Wilson was perfect and very real and ellen page was truly godly magnificent. She was more then extraordinary. She usually gives performances like thus and I know it but I'm still always surprised. Really amazing movie. I don't know what other adjectives to describe this movie as(or ellen page) but its needs to be watched. The ending is awesome.

robert t. gave it a10:
One of the best opportunistic movies for acting i have seen but of course i am a huge fan of Ellen Page. I think she is a phenomenal actress. i like the camera work for the most part as well as the directing and writing. I don't think it was the best film of 2005 but most likely one of them. Ellen Page was amazing bbut i thought that Patrick WIlson could have been better.Overall it was a good movie.

Matthew W gave it a2:
Terrible. I truly cannot understand how everyone else gave this film such a high rating. While the acting was certianly something to be applauded the movie fails in what it sets out to do: show how sick pedophiles are and teach them a lesson. Throughout the entire movie, nothing at all happens to make the audience feel justified in enjoying or at least repecting what Hayley is doing to Jeff. It is implied, yes, but within the context of the movie it is far to weak, especially considering what happens to Jeff. I almost cound not finish watching the picture and found myself cheering whenever Jeff actually managed to escape. Of course, if you like watching people get tortured for no reason, (at least this is how it seems), then defintely check this one out. Otherwise, take my advice and go watch something more entertaining such as 300. At least there's some explanation for all that bloodshed.

R. H. gave it a6:
I wish people would stop saying how "striking" this movie was. I mean, yes, its great - its gritty, excellently acted, and cinematic. What i find is basically another thriller in a realistic style. I'm suprized to hear the director say hpw its "unlike how hollywood movies are made". Sorry, i'm getting used to the realistic style by now (Abou Schmidt, Cloverfield, etc.) But i feel like these formal qualities are an excuse not to discuss its content, which i have to say is really noteworthy - i find this to be the most original aspect. What i find frighteningh i guess, is how easily this could easily happen to any guy. In the movie, her actions are partially justified by what he's done previously, but it shows how much power women actually have now on all social levels when it comes to sexual issues. (Some women will say its not enough, but i ask, what is enough?). This movie left me feeling downright frightened to talk to _any_ women... i wonder if that was the intended effect. I think i really need a movie now that resolves some of these issues (since clearly no solutions are offered here). The content is shocking, and original, but not really helpful in any way. (If there are women that feel empowered by this film, then i _am_ really scared. Were her actions justified by his? Maybe. Does that make them right? No.)

Tania C. gave it a10:
Absolutely great, brave movie. I think now a days it´s very important to show such a controversial topic.

Luke H. gave it a10:
Amazing. One of the most perfect movies you will ever see.

Hard Candy Lions Gate Films

Hard Candy
Lions Gate Films