I kept hearing praise over this movie from a friend and I had to watch it. I knew basically it was about a man who had a thing for young girls and the events that unfolded during his pursue of a 14 year old.
- The following comments are very descriptive of the movie so they DO contain spoilers and you should be warned.
A young girl meets a guy on the internet who is in his 30's and they decide to meet. They meet at a coffee shop and through weird circumstances end up at his house. You find yourself fearing for the girl but find she is not the sweet innocent person she seems to be.
Ellen Page did an amazing job of being this little innocent, very kid like 14 year old with the adorable actions of a minor, the spunk of a pre-teen and the intellect of a young adult and you as a viewer could so easily imagine her being taken advantage of by this man.
When she arrives at his house the stage is set and she is setting it for him, we as a viewer keep thinking hes being extremely nice but wouldn't any "good" stalker/child molester probably be. Doesn't evil usually wear a smile?
The girl seems to be falling in a trap with every innocent word she breaths and I couldn't help but think that she is seducing him and that hes innocent, BUT THEN - POW - the tables are turned and you are smacked in the face and the truth hurts.. You think to yourself that perhaps you are scum too for feeling sorry for him for a while as she becomes this very intelligent, very adult like person who basically spells it out for him...
Grown men don't meet little girls from the internet. Grown Men don't invite little girls to their house. Grown Men do not offer 14-year olds liquor!!! Grown Men don't allow children to pose nude for them in their house alone!!!!
I found myself shamefully listening as I thought, Oh my god, I felt sorry for him for a second. I thought he was being tempted and it wouldn't be his fault. I felt like scum because she was right a grown man doesn't do any of those things - that is enough to make him scum, how could I have not hated him from the first.
Ellen Page, although playing a 14-year old, got in my face and hit me with the truth, hit this man with the truth, showed a reality that is as real as real can get, a reality that is much scarier than any Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers or Freddy Kruger movie. This is an average Joe who molests kids, your kids , my kids - this is horror...This is real.
The events that unfolded after that were light in comparison to what many of these guys need done to them, but it was still morbid and horrifying to see. I was not bothered so much by the torture, but I think anyone who has had thoughts like that about a kid might feel a tad uncomfortable seeing what she does to him.
The movie was pretty good as a whole, but I found it far from perfect. I absolutely loved Ellen Page and even thought Patrick Wilson was great. The direction and production values did very little for me, but in a drama such as this I rarely pay attention to that stuff.
I would like to know what made this kid do the things she did. Did she know the girl that was killed and think the man had something to do with it? Did she have a friend he had molested? My favorite theory is that perhaps someone else had done a similar thing to her and now shes seeking revenge. In that situation maybe she feels she can take her suffering out on just any child molester and get satisfaction. Perhaps she has done this before...perhaps she will again... Something for child molesters to fear. The Charles Bronson of the new millennium. Vigilante killers seeking justice. I wouldn't mind seeing such a thing happen to these guys who do this.
I am not one who doesn't believe that people do screwed up things because of the screwed up things that have happened to them. I know society, family, music, television whatever may make us crazy or mean or whatever, but it doesn't change the fact that if we harm other people that we deserve to be punished. Rehabilitated is the route I would prefer, but hey this made a decent movie and I don't see it causing any young girls to become stalkers - I don't see the hunter becoming the hunted in the near future, but perhaps some dirty child molester out there might see this and change his mind or get a tad scared, at least he will recognize and have someone telling him - Hard candy is hard to swallow and biting it might just break your teeth....
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