Hard Candy 2005 ***

Before hitting the big leagues with the third Twilight movie, director David Slade warmed up with the serious-minded exploration of pedophilia, featuring excellent work from Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page. She plays Haley Stark, a young girl who decided to expose Jeff Kohlver, who has some incriminating evidence stashed away in his luxurious house. Hard Candy doesn’t shy away from the unpleasant details of the subject, but also twists the story to play games with audience sympathies; there’s ambiguities about Haley’s actions and Jeff’s innocence, thoroughly worked out in Brian Nelson’s theatrical but engrossing script.