Movie Review: 'Candy Land' is Grim, Sexy and Gut-Wrenching all at Once

Candy Land (2023)

Directed by John Swab

Written by John Swab

Starring Olivia Luccardi, William Baldwin, Sam Quartin, Owen Campbell, Eden Brolin

Release date January 6th, 2023

Published January 2nd, 2023

Candy Land is a nasty, gritty, sexy horror movie about sex workers at a southern truck stop who meet a young woman named Remy (Olivia Luccardi), after she has either escaped from, or been turned away from, the religious cult she was with. Taking her in, they become her friends and, eventually, they initiate her into sex work. Little do they know that Remy is more dangerous than she looks. The mousy former cult member carries with her a cross with a deep dark secret related to her past and the cult from which she's supposedly escaped.

Among our core lead characters is Sadie (Sam Quartin), Sadie's girlfriend, Liv (Virginia Rand), Riley (Eden Brolin), and Levi (Owen Campbell), a gay for pay sex worker. Helping the younger women with a place to stay and frequent customers is Nora (Guinivere Turner), a relatively kindhearted version of a pimp. Rounding out the cast is Sheriff Rex (William Baldwin) who looks the other way as the sex workers ply their trade. In exchange, he spends time with Levi with whom he has become deeply enamored.

Once Remy becomes part of their crew people start dying. First is a random 'John' who is found in the men's room with an eye cut out and his arms posed over his chest. Soon after, another customer, a trucker, is killed. And then we get to the main cast, one of whom finds Remy cleaning her knife in the ladies room. Remy kills them to keep her murders quiet and then kills another random woman who comes in and that murder provides her with a cover story, this rando killed our friend, by Remy's estimation

Remy's quiet, mousy demeanor makes her appear as if she could not hurt anyone and for most of Candy Land, we in the audience are the only ones who know just how dangerous she really is. This is a smart piece of direction as every interaction with one of our main characters and Remy becomes charged with suspense as to whether this character will survive the scene. The movie toys with horror tropes, including the famed 'Final Girl' trope in terrific and unexpected fashion and I really enjoyed that.

Especially strong in Candy Land is the ending which I wouldn't necessarily call a twist. It certainly caught me off guard, but that's all I will say in description. The ending is a great shocker, a terrifically terrifying piece of direction with a strong bit of misdirection and unexpected bloodshed. It's a great ending with surprising choices and a gory set piece at the heart of it that sends us on our way. I don't want to spoil anything, I will only say that the ending is fitting, horrible and satisfying.

Candy Land is a terrific bit of cult horror. It's filled with surprises, sex, gore and wonderfully unexpected shifts in gears. It will not be for all audiences as it contains broad sexuality, sexual assault, and gory violence. That said, the shocks of Candy Land are strongly directed, well plotted and contains horror movie levels of entertainment and stomach-churning awfulness. I really had a great time watching Candy Land even with the deeply disturbing elements included. Your level of enjoyment will be measured by your tolerance for sex, violence, and horror movie gore.

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