Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that, while watching Hard Candy, "There is undeniable fascination in the situation as it unfolds... Seen as a film, seen as acting and direction, seen as just exactly how it unfolds on the screen, Hard Candy is impressive and effective." While a great number of reviewers echoed Ebert's sentiments about the film, an equal amount of critics did not care for the film. Jonathon Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader, for example, said that he wants to have the movie "obliterated from [his] memory." Still, the film was a modest box office success. It earned $8.3 million at the box office and was made for a budget of only $950,000 (this is a very small budget even by indie drama standards).
Starring Ellen Page in what many critics consider to be her star-making turn, Hard Candy tells the story of a teenage girl named Hayley Stark (Page) who breaks into the home of a man named Jeff Kohlver (played by --Patrick Wilson) who is a pedophile that preys on young girls for his own pleasure. Hayley is a vigilante and has lured Jeff into a sticky situation which will test both of their limits. For her, it is just how far she will go to get revenge. For him, it is whether or not he will fold during the times Hayley tortures him and tell the full and honest truth about his crimes.
