Hard Candy David Slade

Box office

The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival with a midnight screening. The Dolby Surround System failed before the screening and the audience was kept out until it was repaired.[1] Hard Candy was also screened at the Florida Film Festival on April 1, 2006.[7]

Hard Candy opened in two theaters in Los Angeles and New York City on April 14, 2006[1] in a limited release. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $58,049 averaging $29,704 per theater, the highest per-screen average in the top 50.[1] Box Office Mojo reported that it ended its run with $1,024,640 at the North American box office, and a further $5,997,569 internationally for a total of $7,022,209.[8] The Numbers put the total gross at $8.26 million, with an international gross of $7,242,426.[2]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 147 critic reviews are positive, and the average rating is 6.4/10. The critics consensus reads: "Disturbing, controversial, but entirely engrossing, Hard Candy is well written with strong lead performances, especially that of newcomer Elliot Page. A movie that stays with the viewer long after leaving the theater."[9] According to Metacritic, which sampled 30 reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews".[10]

Roger Ebert rated the film 3.5/4 stars, writing "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."[11] Steve Persall wrote in the Tampa Bay Times that he saw the movie in a crowded bar, yet "until the shocking end, there's nothing less than rapt attention to this sordid thriller about an online predator (Wilson) and his not-so-innocent prey [Elliot Page]. On a party night in New Orleans? That's how creepy-good this movie is."[12] Steve Schneider, writing in the Orlando Weekly, praised the film's "grabber of a sicko setup... It's a memorably tense pas de deux, and if the movie doesn't pay off on it properly, fault a script that ventures further and further into psychological thriller claptrap, leaving the two stars to rely on their hefty talents to keep it at all believable."[7]

Caroline Westbrook at Empire magazine called it a "cracking little thriller". David Edwards at the Daily Mirror praised it as a "smart, challenging and timely look at the world of internet grooming". Todd McCarthy at Variety praised the "spectacular performance" by the teenaged Page. On the other hand, Jonathan Rosenbaum referred to it as torture and mutilation and wrote: "I'd rather have this movie obliterated from my memory."[13] The New York Times' film critic Manohla Dargis recognized the film's debt to "Ariel Dorfman and Neil LaBute, among others", but did not care for the torture theme "in the age of Abu Ghraib".[14]

Page's performance received critical acclaim; Lynn Hirschberg of The New York Times Magazine said "a star was born, but almost no one noticed", describing Hard Candy as Page's initial artistic breakthrough performance, and his role in the 2007 film Juno as his mainstream popularity breakthrough performance.[15] Claudia Puig from USA Today praised Page for "remain[ing] consistently convincing" to his role which is both "powerful and chilling ... [he] manages to be both cruelly callous and likable, and [his] is one of the most complex, disturbing and haunting performances of the year."[16]

Accolades

The film won three awards at the 2005 Sitges Film Festival[17] and four awards at the 2006 Málaga Film Festival.[18] The film also won Overlooked Film of the Year at the 2006 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards.[19] Page (who was presenting as female at the time) won the Best Actress award from the Austin Film Critics Association.[20] Page was nominated for the Breakthrough Performer award at the 2006 Online Film Critics Society Awards,[21] and Best Female Newcomer at the 12th Empire Awards.[22] The film was nominated for Best Foreign Independent film at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards,[23] and the film's trailer was nominated for Best Thriller and Best Titles in a Trailer at the 7th Golden Trailer Awards.[24]