Hard Candy is a psychological thriller film released in 2005 directed by David Slade. The film stars Ellen Page as Hayley Stark and Patrick Wilson as Jeff Kohlver. Hayley, a 14-year-old girl, and Jeff, a 32-year-old photographer, meet on an online chatroom and decide to meet in person at a coffee shop.
During their conversation, Jeff flirts with Hayley and offers to bring her back to his house. Back at Jeff's house, Hayley proceeds to flirt with him but quickly reveals that she knows he has been preying on underage girls online. She drugs Jeff and ties him to a chair, revealing that she is not the innocent girl he thought she was and that she plans to get revenge on him for his predatory behavior.
The majority of the film takes place within Jeff's house as Hayley interrogates him, taunts him, and puts him through a series of brutal psychological and physical tortures. As she digs deeper into Jeff's past, she finds evidence of his crimes and starts to question her own methods as she becomes emotionally invested in the case.
The film's intense and disturbing themes of child abuse, manipulation, and revenge have earned it a reputation as a controversial yet thought-provoking piece of cinema. The performances of Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson have also been widely praised, with Page receiving critical acclaim for her portrayal of the complex and morally ambiguous Hayley Stark.