feelsalike.comSign in
Hard Candy poster

Movies that feel likeHard Candy (2006)

Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.

If you loved Hard Candy, the closest films we have are Side Effects (2013), 21 Grams (2003) and The Devil All the Time (2020). All three share Hard Candy's contemplative and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Charley Varrick (1973).

🍅 67% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. David Sladecontemplativetensemelancholygritty
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the Mood Map

If Hard Candy hit the spot, these will too

Side Effects poster
Side Effects
2013 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 82%★ 7thriller · crime · dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Both land stillness and tension at once

The difference: Leans harder into crime than Hard Candy does

A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.

21 Grams poster
21 Grams
2003 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 80%★ 7.6drama · crime · thriller

Melancholy and gritty in the same breath

Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.

The Devil All the Time poster
The Devil All the Time
2020 · dir. Antonio Campos
🍅 65%★ 7.1crime · drama · thrillerNetflix

One thread runs through both: suicide

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

You Were Never Really Here poster
You Were Never Really Here
2017 · dir. Lynne Ramsay
🍅 89%★ 6.7crime · drama · thrillerPrime Video

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered—leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

Frailty poster
Frailty
2002 · dir. Bill Paxton
🍅 76%★ 7.2drama · thriller · crime

The same preoccupation in both: insanity

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."

Thief poster
Thief
1981 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 80%★ 7.4crime · thriller · dramaPrime Video

Both lean on tension more than on thriller

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 · dir. Don Siegel
🍅 82%★ 7.5crime · thriller · drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: suicide

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

The Celebration poster
The Celebration
1998 · dir. Thomas Vinterberg
🍅 91%★ 8drama

Melancholy drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Takes it somewhere less tense than Hard Candy does

The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a devastating secret that turns the night into a battle of truth and denial.

Lilya 4-ever poster
Lilya 4-ever
2002 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 84%★ 7.8drama · crime

Gritty thriller in both cases

In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.

Hell or High Water poster
Hell or High Water
2016 · dir. David Mackenzie
🍅 97%★ 7.6western · crime · dramaMax

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

A divorced dad and his ex-con brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family's farm in West Texas.

Death Wish poster
Death Wish
2018 · dir. Eli Roth
🍅 18%★ 6.3action · crime · thriller

From the 2010s, and it lands the same way

A mild-mannered father is transformed into a killing machine after his family is torn apart by a violent act.

Elle poster
Elle
2016 · dir. Paul Verhoeven
🍅 91%★ 7.1drama · thriller

Common ground: rape

When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Hard Candy’s defining feeling.