Let The Right One In

In today’s take on vampires, it can be hard to remember that vampires are supposed to be monsters.  It can be hard to remember that they are supposed to be threatening and dangerous.  It can be hard to remember that they are supposed to feed on human blood. 

            Let the Right One In is like a breath of fresh air in reminding us that these creatures of the night are killers.  On the surface, Let the Right On In is similar to Twilight. A young, ordinary person intrigues a mysterious vampire and slowly they fall in love.  However, Let the Right One In is a much darker look at the world and the people in it.  It deals with issues such as bullying and pedophilia.  It is very violent and does not hold back in its portrayal of murder.  Yet somehow in the midst of all this horror, it finds away to be a touching love story, in a really twisted way.  That’s what I love about this movie.  Because the world can be a horrible place, but you can still find genuine love in it.

            Let the Right One In is about a 12 year old boy named Oskar.  He is regularly bullied at school and dreams of getting revenge on his tormentors but he does not have the courage to go through with it.  Soon, Eli moves in next door with her adult caretaker.  The two strike up a friendship that blossoms into something more.  Eli encourages Oskar to fight back and Oskar shows Eli how to just enjoy someone’s company.  As time goes by, Oskar discovers that Eli is not the girl he thought she was.

I understand the romanticism of vampires.  I am a huge fan of Buffy and Angel.  This movie itself is a love story.  It’s just that I feel that vampires are getting too tame.  Like dogs instead of wolves.  Eli, despite her love for Oskar, is still a monster.  She will kill to survive and there are several points in the film where she truly looks like an animal. 

I like the fact that it is a story on a small scale too.  It does not get deep into the mythology of vampires or any other supernatural beings.  It really does not go into Eli’s back story either.  These things are not really relevant to the story about two people finding each other and loving each other through all obstacles.  This is a story about the world that they wrap themselves up in.  This is about Eli trying to eat real food because Oskar wants her to.  This is about Oskar giving Eli his Rubik’s cube.  This is about children living in a horrific world. 

            After researching the film and the book, there are a few things that I wish the director (Tomas Alfredson) had been clearer on.  There were a few things in the film that I never understood until I went and read what their purpose was.  This ranged from who certain characters were to what certain shots were supposed to mean.  I will not get into the specifics because I do not want to spoil anything important.  Much of the film is open to interpretation.  And this review is simply my interpretation.

            Its flaws aside, as far as vampire films go, this one ranks pretty near the top.  There is something so eerie about the whole thing.  I got the sense that even before Eli showed up; Oskar already lived in an unsafe world.  The bullies constantly harassing him, his seemingly disinterested parents, and the way the film was almost always surrounded by darkness and a sense of unrest.  For children so young, the two leads (Kare Hedebrant as Oskar and Lina Leandersson as Eli) do a remarkable job carrying a pretty adult story.  I highly recommend this one