“I am every little girl you ever watched, touched, hurt, screwed, killed.”

Being a teenager is hard. In addition to raging hormones, awkward social interactions, and the never ending quest to be cool, every action, choice, or identifying marker may be ruthlessly picked apart by peers just as concerned with maintaining their own social status. Elder millennials and older generations were lucky to go through these awkward years without social media to document every misstep or well-intentioned faux pas. The predators we were taught to fear operated out of shadowy vans or crowded food courts and stranger danger was the law of the land. In addition to the stress of social media, the teens of today must be on the lookout for catfishing creeps who lure them in with charming online personas, deceptive avatars, and manipulative DMs. David Slade’s 2005 film Hard Candy explores the early days of this new brand of horror with a modern Little Red Riding Hood story that turns the tables on the big bad wolf.

Haley Stark (Elliot Page) is a sweet-wise teen excited to finally meet the cute guy she’s been flirting with online. But rather than a student from a neighboring high school, Jeff (Patrick Wilson) is a grown man who seems equally surprised that they have so much in common. After a coffee shop meet cute, Jeff “reluctantly” takes Haley back to his isolated house/photography studio to listen to some music and quickly loses control of the situation. Haley is not the innocent little girl Jeff expected to trap and her plans for their “first date” will change his life forever. With Jeff finally stripped of power, Haley unleashes a horrific revenge as vigilante justice for the long string of abused and murdered girls left in Jeff’s destructive wake.

The Lady Killers conclude a series of episodes following April Fools by dissecting one of the genre’s most notorious bait and switch stories. Co-hosts Jenn Adams, Mae Shults, Rocco T. Thompson, and Sammie Kuykendall will discuss their reactions to this shocking film and remember exploring early iterations of online culture. Can Jeff be both victim and villain? Who is Haley and what are the ethics of her castration plan? Just how trusting is Sandra Oh and hasn’t anyone at this cafe ever heard of an AMBER Alert? In their latest episode, The Lady Killers tackle the complicated themes and symbolic justice in David Slade’s Hard Candy – a film that feels more relevant with each passing day.

Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.

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