Bleak love story between two lonely twelve-year-olds, one who has been 'twelve for a long time,' is undoubtedly categorized as horror. but is it? Tomas Alfredson's film debut, based on an international bestseller, seems like a provocative drama, with elements of horror throughout. In the days of tongue-in-cheek 'scary movies' ("Shaun of the Dead") and pulpy formula pictures ("Prom Night,") "Let the Right One In" stands out- a story about isolation meant to be taken seriously and absorbed.
Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is an introverted, pale pre-adolescent relentlessly tormented and humiliated at school by classmates. We don't know what's ahead for him, but what we see doesn't look good- he spends his time imagining his revenge with a knife he keeps in his pocket, and collecting newspaper articles about recent killings, putting them in a scrapbook like baseball cards.
One night, outside his apartment where he lives with his single mother, he meets Eli (Lea Leandersson.) "Aren't you cold?" he asks, noting her bare feet against the white snow. "No." After that night, Oskar continues to meet Eli, fascinated by her. The two strike a furtive romance, although Eli several times warns him, "I'm not a girl." When Oskar discovers Eli's secret, he turns a blind eye, even as the vicious killings persist.
Eli is a vampire. We see her several times hunting down and feeding off neighbors, as well as forcing her human roommate to be an accomplice and help keep her alive. Eli hardly seems happy about the life forced upon her- she treats it as something that simply needs to be done, which it basically is. Oskar, suppressing violence himself, cares for Eli regardless of her dietary habits. And it is Eli who teaches Oskar to stand up to the boys who torment him, and finally, in her own twisted way, saves him.
After the closing credits, I sat there for a while and simply thought about the film. The more I considered 'the meaning,' the grimmer it became. This is the kind of movie where you sit for an hour or so, watching the story unfold, and then the plot's implications hit you. It is intelligent and original, and I should have spent my time reading the novel version of this, instead of the awe-inspiringly overrated twaddle "Twilight."
This is, make no mistake, a good film, but I found a couple aspects that dampered it. First of all, there was a part involving obviously animatronic cats that I suppose was meant to be scary, but came off just laughable. It was not nearly as bad as the infamous 'drugged-dog scene' in "There's Something About Mary," but that was comedy, and it's difficult to be scared by a scene when it's obviously staged and using fake animals that came out of one of those "Air Buddies"-esque slapstick kiddie flicks.
Secondly, what was with the partial child nudity? This was hardly offensive, as it was, as a whole, non-exploitive, but the majority didn't seem to aid the plot. I read that one scene in particular was a significant point in the book (vampire lore?) but other bits seemed sprinkled around. I am neither disgusted nor truly questioning the director's motives, but am simply puzzled by their place in the movie. Why add them? Because you can?
"Let the Right One In," however, is mostly a unique and rewarding film experience. If you see and like it, you might want to order the book. Sooner or later, I probably will (Rated R.)
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