Movie: Hard Candy (no spoilers)

This week's Netflix offering was the independent psychological drama "Hard Candy".

It's hard to figure out what to say without spoiling because the spoilers start about 20 minutes in, and both the back-of-the-box blurb and the trailer are nice enough not to excessively spoil them, so I hate to do it.  But I'll give it a go.

1.  Watch at least the first half hour, because it changes drastically about 20 minutes in.  I almost bailed at the 15 minute mark because it wasn't ringing true for me at all, but I'm glad I stayed until the change.  It still didn't ring true for me afterwords, but in a way that was perfectly OK.  It's 100% fantasy fulfillment, utterly unrealistic, but very good nonetheless.
2.  According to the filmmakers, about 50% of viewers love it, 25% leave the movie still trying to figure it out, and 25% hate it with the fiery heat of a thousand suns.  Consider yourself warned.  (I'm in the first 50%.)  (Also, I'd love to know if there's a gender bias in those statistics.  Actually, I'd be shocked if there weren't.  I'd lay money men are more likely to hate this than women.)
3.  Excellent psychological movie.
4.  Also, the director and/or cinematographer has a wonderful eye for imagery.  Beautiful shots.  When you consider the limited setting, that's even more impressive.