Chapter 64

Please, please, please, please——recommendation votes!

The lights on the theater ceiling came back on, and fewer than twenty audience members stood up, clapping their hands sparsely. Applause is common at film festivals, merely a polite response from the audience. Murphy listened to the applause, unable to discern what it represented. ☆→

Perhaps only those who clapped knew their true feelings about the film.

Daisy clapped enthusiastically. She really enjoyed the modern twist on Little Red Riding Hood outsmarting the Big Bad Wolf. The scenes where Little Red Riding Hood brutally kills the Big Bad Wolf and the lolicon is punished by the lolita were really cool and satisfying.

Her male companion, however, had only one thought: cherish life, stay away from lolitas!

He had seen many films about lolitas, but this one, *Hard Candy*, was the most ferocious. It combined the evil of *Lolita*, the calmness of *Iris*, and the ferocity of *Matilda*. Added to this was the protagonist's exceptional intelligence and cunning, making her a dangerous combination of visible and hidden threats. The overt and covert lolicons, facing such a sugar-coated but arsenic-filled candy, could only hope for the best.

Not far behind them, Jones-Butler did not clap but instead took advantage of the last moment to record more information about the film while her memory was still fresh. This would serve as part of the basis for her subsequent judgment.

Violence, bloodshed, sensitivity, controversy, simplicity, tension, thrilling... She first wrote down these key words, then added her evaluation of the film.

"An empty house, a hard iron table and chair, several monochromatic walls, long stretches of dialogue, a simple yet tight plot, creating a suspenseful and thrilling story."

"*Hard Candy* possesses many elements that make popular films successful: online romance, ****, crime, murder, revenge, suspense, deduction, strategy, psychological warfare, thrill, pedophilia, psychological analysis, etc. The director is a master storyteller, handling sensitive themes with control, and is also skilled at creating tension and using various cinematic techniques."

After some thought, she added, "Plot summary: An underage girl meets a ********* photographer for an online date. The girl outwits the photographer, uncovers his murder evidence, and exacts revenge. The photographer tries to manipulate her psychologically, but the girl castrates him. The photographer breaks free and chases the girl, but she breaks his psychological defenses and hangs him, achieving justice."

Finally, Jones-Butler added, "The plot flows smoothly, with one scene tightly linked to the next. Recommendation level: Priority!"

Beside her, Baker-Lascent from Castle Rock Entertainment, though not taking notes, was thinking rapidly. As a professional film reviewer and buyer, he had his own judgment of the film.

If the full score was ten, he would give this film a passing score of six, not for the film itself but for its market potential.

From his personal experience, Baker-Lascent judged that the female lead would be rejected by a significant portion of male viewers. Many male viewers would likely dislike the girl, feeling a chill after watching the film.

Women might find it satisfying and praise it as a just and thrilling story, but Baker-Lascent believed that some empathetic women would disapprove of the female lead's actions, siding with the male viewers. Conversely, there would be no male viewers switching to the women's camp.

This limited the film's audience, making it destined to be a niche film.

As a buyer, Baker-Lascent's primary concern was the market. Market potential was his sole criterion for evaluating films.

After *The Blair Witch Project*, everyone wanted to emulate Lionsgate's success by finding a gem at the Sundance Film Festival. Baker-Lascent remained rational, knowing that such a miracle came from substantial marketing efforts, not the film's inherent qualities. *Hard Candy* had a limited target audience, making large-scale marketing efforts unfeasible.

By this standard, the film's market potential score was barely passing, but the selling points it contained could not be ignored.

First, the eye-for-an-eye theme is very appealing to viewers, making it satisfying for a significant portion of the audience. Second, the modern Little Red Riding Hood is innocent and cute yet cool, intelligent, and talented, with expressive eyes. Third, the intense performances in a confined space, except for the final blow, are a model of low-budget filmmaking, perfectly fitting the B-movie aesthetic. Fourth, the editing is crisp and the music rhythm tight, with the director making a simple and sensitive story both tense and engaging...

Everyone has different impressions of a film. Bill Robbins had seen a rough cut earlier, without the sound effects. After watching the final version, he was surprised by Murphy's camera work and editing, not expecting the final result to be so good. However, what left the deepest impression on him were the various sounds in the film that he hadn't heard before.

The off-screen dialogue between the main characters; the sudden stop of the disco music; the sound of ice cubes rubbing in an ice bag; the subtle sound of a scalpel cutting skin; the photographer's painful breathing; the sound of a glass bottle breaking...

Murphy-Stanton, the rookie, had brilliantly and accurately integrated these sounds into the film, enhancing the auditory experience and intensifying the portrayal of the characters' psychology, thus increasing the film's impact.

The sparse applause, which lasted for less than ten seconds, gradually faded.

As the screen returned to darkness, Murphy's heart tightened. His first public screening had ended, and this screening, crucial for his future, had not clarified the path ahead.

Murphy stood up, his hands trembling slightly, unnoticed by others. Despite his experience in prison, he was still young, and even with a good mental state, he was nervous.

Especially when he saw the professional film reviewers, Murphy took a deep breath, preventing the trembling from spreading to the rest of his body.

He had invested almost all his resources into this film, the beginning of a series of plans. If it failed, it would not be as simple as starting over. How could he not care?

"Our film is over?" Paul Wilson was a bit dazed.

The audience was already leaving, and the professional film reviewers finally stood up. Murphy steadied himself and reminded Paul Wilson, "If you feel lost, you can go outside and cry."

This scene was indeed different from what Paul Wilson had expected. There was no prolonged applause, no fans rushing to congratulate them, and no audience members asking for autographs...

*Hard Candy* had ended, and the audience had left, leaving them unnoticed.