10 Movies That Show The Dark And Evil Side Of Social Media

3. Hard Candy (2006)

Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson star in this riveting but deeply disturbing drama about a teenage girl who enacts her own brand of justice on an unsuspecting child molester. Directed by David Slade, Hard Candy opens with fourteen-year-old girl Hayely (Page) conversing with middle-aged photographer Jeff (Wilson) in an internet chatroom. Jeff agrees to meet Hayley, and shortly after taking her back to his home he finds himself tied to a chair and held captive in his own abode. Hayley tells him that she knows who he is and what he has done to girls just like her; and is now going to punish him for it. What's Dark About It? Where to begin? Hard Candy is quite unlike anything you will have seen before, with a fourteen-year-old girl exposing, berating, and torturing a man who has a sickening history of abuse. The film raises some squirm-inducing subject-matter involving pain and punishment, and also intelligently flips the common dynamic of the tired "woman in danger" formula. For once, it is the middle-aged man - not the young girl - who is manipulated through the online chatroom. Is It Any Good? Whilst undeniably excellent, the film's intensity levels will undoubtedly alienate many viewers. It's not a fun experience to sit and watch Hard Candy, but it is a powerful one. As a standalone piece of cinema it's uncompromising, emphatic and contains two unflinching performances by Page and Wilson. But it's hardly a film to chow down on some popcorn with. As film critic Roger Ebert so aptly described Hard Candy: "Thumbs up... with a warning".