Hard candy

Task 3 part 2

1. Hard Candy (2005) Plot Hard Candy, which was directed by David Slade, is a psychological crime thriller, that although is a hybrid of genres, still follows the conventions of a psychological thrillers. The film follows a 14 year old girl called Hayley Stark (played by Ellen Page) who meets an 32 year old man named Jeff after a sexual online chat. When Hayley arrives at his house, she drugs his drink and Jeff falls unconscious. When he awakes he finds that Hayley has tied him to a chair and she explains that she will torture him because she knows he is a rapist and pedophile to which Jeff denies. After an intense and extreme array of violence, Hayley offers Jeff a deal – she will destroy the evidence of his actions if he hangs himself which he does. The film is a perfect example of a psychological thriller narrative as the plot is disturbing and twisted. This is shown through the extremely uncomfortable scenes of violence the most famous being when Hayley castrates Jeff. Even though the castration is fake, this scene is still extremely disturbing and gripping for the audience as throughout the entire film, the audience questions whether Jeff really is guilty of rape and murder. This is what makes it such an enticing psychological thriller as the audience is left wondering throughout the film which raises feelings of paranoia and tension which is conventional of a psychological thriller.

2. Themes Here is a word collage I made using Word It Out about the themes in the film Hard Candy. The themes in Hard Candy do adhere to the themes often found in psychological thrillers. This is because it discuses themes that are slightly taboo and uncomfortable for the audience which is what makes the film so gripping and disturbing.

3. Character Investigation Hayley is an interesting and disturbing character whose qualities and characteristics are conventional of many thriller characters. The audience starts off sympathizing with Hayley as there is evidence to suggest that Jeff is a child predator and she is giving into his wants by allowing him to take nude photos of her. However this opinion quickly changes as she takes a more dominant position and begins to violently torture Jeff. It could be slightly unclear whether Hayley is the antagonist or protagonist of the film. This is because, on the o ne hand, Hayley is a vigilante and wants justice for all the young girls like herself that Jeff has taken advantage of which could lead the audience to take her side. However, the film raises moral issues that link to Barthes’ narrative theory which states that ‘The Cultural Code’ is a feature found in the narratives of films and is when the audience has a wider knowledge of the cultural morality shown in the film. This is definitely the case for the character of Hayley as even though we believe Jeff to have done wrong, it becomes unclear whether Hayley should be considered to be the hero as the violent extremities she goes to for justice (including getting Jeff to hang himself) suggest that she is the antagonist of the film. Her twisted and disturbed mind is conventional of characters in thriller films.

4. Hayley is 14 and does not follow the stereotypical conventions of 14 year old girls in media representations. Instead of being vulnerable and submissive, which would be expected of a stereotypical young teenage girl in the presence of a sexual predator, she expresses her dominance and power over Jeff throughout the film which breaks the stereotypes of both women and young teenagers.

5. Jeff could be considered to be the protagonist of the film since we root for him to escape Hayley’s disturbed and sadistic torture. However his past actions do not go unnoticed and the audience is always aware that he has taken nude photographs of young underage girls. As a result, it could be difficult to view Jeff as the protagonist and is instead labeled as the anti-hero meaning he is the central character in the fil m but lacks the conventional attributes a typical protagonist hero would have. This shows how the characters in Hard Candy, go against Propp’s theory of characters as the idea of an anti-hero is not something that usually exists. A lot of the time there is a clear opposition between good and bad which is also something Strauss stated in his narrative theory. He talks about how the media use binary oppositions to highlight certain symbolic aspects of a narrative. Having characters such as Jeff that don’t fit into one category, is something found in thriller films as the purpose of the is to excite the audience often in disturbing and thrilling ways. A psychological thriller will want to manipulate the audience’s mind and an easy way to do that is by creating complex characters whose true personalities and secrets are unraveled throughout the play.

6. The Demographic In the UK, the BBFC rated the film 18 meaning that the target age demographic would be those over the age of 18. This is mainly due to the disturbing and aggressive scenes of violence that wouldn’t be suitable for a younger audience. The marketing campaign was effective in drawing attention to the film and used extensive amounts of symbolism and connotations throughout to hint to the audience what the film is about. Here is the film poster that would have been displayed in cinemas around the country and world. You can see that the girl is stood in the center of a bear trap with the connotations being danger and violence. It could also suggest a vulnerability within Hayley which is ironically disregarded in the film.

7. The Location The entirety of the film is centered around one location which is Jeff's house. As a result the intensity of the film is heightened as there is a sense of confinements as Jeff isn’t able to leave his own home or feel safe in it as it has been invaded by Hayley. Having one main location seems to be a trend in psychological thrillers and it is likely to be because it gives the audience the feeling of never being able to escape. It also creates a sense of isolation from the external world which would typically heighten someone’s emotions and paranoia which is conventional in a psychological thriller. Costumes The costume choices are naturalistic to reflect the modern day setting of the film. It also reflects to the audience how the events happening, could be real even if they are slightly heightened. However, middle ages men taking photos of young girls is something that does happen in the real world so the naturalism of the film reflects how this could and does happen in real life.

8. From analysing this film, I now have a better understanding of the plots, characters and locations found in psychological thrillers and how they differ form other genres of film. I think it is important that the characters in my film have a complex background that could lead the audience to question who is the villain and who is the hero. There shouldn’t be a clear line between the two in order to keep the audience thinking and questioning the morality of the characters. I also think it is important to have a key location where the film is set that could be quite small and confined to reflect the isolation and feeling of no escape often shown in the characters in psychological thrillers.