Review: Let the Right One In (2008) *** 1/2
Though one of its central characters turns out to be a vampire, Sweden’s Let the Right One In is not quite a horror film. Working from the best selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, director Tomas Alfredson is more interested in the story’s central relationship between a troubled 12-year-old boy and the strange girl who moves in next door to him than he is in the ins and outs of vampire mythology.
While the narrative is ultimately driven by the complications that arise from the fact the girl lives off of human blood, there is a tenderness, a sweetness and a heartbreak at the core of the film more befitting a love story than a typical monster movie. Overall, it’s a winning, literate hybrid that might even appeal to audiences who aren’t normally drawn to stories of the supernatural.
Bullied relentlessly at school and neglected at home, skinny blonde Oskar is a quiet boy who has a disturbing fascination with knives and who harbors private revenge fantasies against his tormentors. Mostly though, he just keeps to himself until mysterious Eli moves into the apartment next door. Despite her strange odor, her seeming imperviousness to the cold Swedish winter and her uncanny habit of appearing out of nowhere, Oskar takes an interest in her and she him. At first she matter-of-factly tells him they can never be friends, but slowly the two form a bond. She represents the strength he’ll never have and he is the humanity she can never attain.
Oskar comes to realize the true nature of his new friend, but maybe having a vampire for a companion isn’t such a bad thing after all. All is well until the slow-witted residents of the sleepy Stockholm suburb finally begin to grow suspicious at the bodies that have been piling up.
Though it’s punctuated by moments of horror, particularly the nifty and inventive poolside climax, Let the Right One In mostly glides along in a moody, ominous fashion rather than a terrifying one. Some of the best moments involve the developing love story between Oskar and Eli. The adults by contrast are almost cartoonish and so it falls on young actors Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson to essentially carry the film. There’s a matter of fact quality to their performances and they never slide into the irritating preciousness that often plagues American child actors.
The production design and cinematography of Let the Right One In take full advantage of the icy, antiseptic, Euro-modern style of the film’s suburban locale and they lend the proceedings a certain claustrophobic feeling. With the exception of a few scenes, understatement and subtlety is the order of the day and this makes the moments when the tension and suspense is finally ramped up all the more effective.
By design, Let the Right One In never delivers a sustained degree of horror. It mostly eschews easy thrills to focus on the haunting love story between Oskar and Eli. What it lacks in short-term shocks, it makes up in emotional resonance and instead of being easily forgotten, it creates a mood that lingers.
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in). Sweden 2008. Directed by Tomas Alfredson. Screenplay by John Ajvide Lindqvist based upon his novel. Cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema. Edited by Dino Jonsater. Music score composed by Johan Söderqvist. Starring Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist and Peter Carlberg. 1 hour 54 minutes. MPAA rated R for some bloody violence including disturbing images, brief nudity and language. 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Filed under: Reviews
Tags: Dino Jonsater, Henrik Dahl, Hoyte van Hoytema, Johan Soderqvist, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Kare Hedebrant, Karin Bergquist, Lat den ratte komma in, Let the Right One In, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Peter Carlberg, Tomas Alfredson
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Another one I’m looking forward to. Looks like a splendid review from the bits I glanced at. Perhaps I will see this on Halloween.
Yep, looking forward to this indeed.
I wish all movies were released at the same time everywhere. I’m just saying.
I remember you talking about this one in another post and it got me interested. Great review. This movie sounds so intriguing (and right up my alley). Looks like I’ll have to try to squeeze in 3 back-to-back movies this weekend (or at least 2).
I’m dying to hear what other people think about this one. It’s made quite an impression online and along the festival circuit.
Well, I will be joining that online circuit before the weekend is out. As always I see no reason why I can’t read a review before I see the film, hence I just read this and am amazed at the roll you have been on as of late, churning out review after review. True, some of this may be due to the shorter length, but it takes some reflection, and some tweeking, which in and of itself is extremely time-consuming.
Basically when you combine these three observation you say it all as applicable to this film:
1. emotional resonance
2. mood that lingers
3. eschews easy thrills to focus on haunting love story
This usually results in a winning mix.
My favorite sentence of the review is this:
“The production and cinematography of ‘Let the Right One In’ take full advantage of the icy, antiseptic, Euro-modern style of the film’s suburban locale, and they lead the proceedings a certain claustrophobic feeling.”
The film’s almost liesurely, artistic bent might be right up your alley Samuel. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. As always, thanks for the kind words and encouragement.
I just saw this tonight and really liked it. The beginning is stunning, so atmospheric. It was a terrific combination of a coming-of-age kind of friendship tale and a horror/suspense movie, with some genuinely humorous moments.
One thing that I wasn’t thrilled about was the very last poolside scene. I don’t know - I guess it’s cathartic. I didn’t hate it, but I felt that the film could have just ended with her going away and him looking out of the window like the beginning.
I’m glad I saw this.
Glad it worked for you A. The thing I liked about the pool scene was that it was an unconventional climax, mostly implying rather than showing and I thought pretty cleverly handled, but I get what you mean about not needing it.
I think that’s one of the dangers of making a film in the horror genre that isn’t really a horror film.
I agree that it was cleverly handled and the audience laughed every time a body part landed in the pool behind him.
Was it you that remarked that this was already in the works to be remade by Hollywood? Ugh, I can just imagine what they’re going to do to it.
This might be slightly spoiler-iffic.
Watched this earlier, and I liked it quite a bit. I understand about your thoughts on the grown ups, many of their interactions didn’t really work for me, especially in dealing with the murder of their friend. Or perhaps not dealing would be more accurate. But the experience as a whole, was, as they say, an unconventional take on a tired premise, and it worked as a whole for me. It has a decent shot at making my Top 10 for the year.
I think the adults were sort of portrayed as they seemd from the little kid’s persective. Kind of goofy and absent, so it works. It puts a lot of pressure on the two kids to carry the movie though, and they totally do.
Glad you liked it Michael.
craig,were the right for a stateside version bought before the film came out of four seconds after the net/blog buzz started/or after whatever festival date ???
The remake was announced while the original was still playing festivals.
“She represents the strength he’ll never have and he is the humanity she can never attain.”
Eli had humanity until she was turned at twelve. She still retains some of it. Aren’t feelings of affection and love part of humanity? And Oskar, he has strength he didn’t even know he possessed. Eli is the one that helps him access it.
“The production design and cinematography of Let the Right One In take full advantage of the icy, antiseptic, Euro-modern style of the film’s suburban locale and they lend the proceedings a certain claustrophobic feeling.”
A more appropriate statement for The Thing and Below.
“It mostly eschews easy thrills to focus on the haunting love story between Oskar and Eli. What it lacks in short-term shocks, it makes up in emotional resonance and instead of being easily forgotten, it creates a mood that lingers.”
I totally agree. Nicely worded.
Good review, Craig. I like how you juxtaposed what the two main characters desired in themselves that they see in each other (strength and humanity) but I agree with the last comment that in essence, both characters showed that they had each trait in equal measure by the end of the film.
I liked this one quite a bit. The adults were somewhat buffoonish, but that made sense to me considering the movie is almost entirely seen through the eyes of Oskar and Eli. In fact, this movie thematically reminds me a lot of Water Lilies, a film that eschewed the adults entirely to tell the story completely from a teen point of view.
i agree with Alison that the ending may have been unnecessary but I enjoyed it anyway. The film is more a fairy tale in many aspects than a horror film and the ending offers something more cathartic and hopeful than cutting it short where Alison suggested.
Loved the cinematography (beautiful, disturbing, and isolating in equal measure, reminding me a lot of The Shining) and the acting was excellent. I also liked all the simple narrative statements (showing rather than telling, implying rather than spelling it all out).
Very good film.
Glad you liked it man, especially after enduring a month of hype.
For the record, I didn’t necessarily mean it negatively when I said the adults were baffoonish, just that it all fell on the kids to carry the film and they delivered.
Only one thing bugged me about the climax….why did the one kid keep holding Oskar’s head under the water while everyone else was getting murdered by Eli?
SPOILERS!!!
I thought about that. My thought was that Oskar was nearly drowned and semi-unconscious under water, hence he wasn’t being held down but simply submerged with the stump floating about him.
Again, the ending was unnecessary in some respects, somewhat over the top certainly, but I enjoyed it so I was willing to let a number of small convoluted details slip by.
Yeah, the hype didn’t kill the movie, which was nice. Neither did seeing the trailer repeatedly in theaters. This trailer actually contained numerous significantly spoilery scenes, but the way it was edited didn’t give anything away. Gotta love that.
Quite liked the film. Wondered if anyone else sees Eli as possibly a projection of Oskar’s imagination.
I still liked the ending. I liked the creepy way it was handled and Joel’s explanation makes sense.
If I’d ever post the damn interview with the director KB, he also says he likes to think of Eli as a possibly projection. He doesn’t come right out and say that’s the case, but it’s in his mind.
finally saw this movie and it was freakin’ amazing. the look and feel of it was great, the acting was spot on. can’t wait for the next flick from the 6-shooter film series, you guys should check it out if you don’t know–>www.sixshooterfilmseries.com. They’re popping a new one every month or so. cheers!
They don’t do that series here in Portland (as far as I know) but I’ve seen some great movies via that one back in Seattle. Craig vouched for Timecrimes recently, which plays next month.
Check it out and thanks for the heads up.
K, I think it’s possible to read it that way although it would mean that certain events in the film didn’t happen at all, which would call into question much of the film’s reality itself. There are a number of scenes and subplots that happen entirely outside of Oskar’s knowledge. I did find it interesting that Eli essentially fulfills Oskar’s darkest wishes and needs.
Did anyone else think that if Eli didn’t show up, there’s a good chance Oskar might grow up to be a serial killer?
Oskar was definitely a freaky little kid….one step removed from Serial Killer.
Joel, it’s a good bet all the films in the Six Shooter series will play near you…though I don’t know about Special.
Thanks for stopping by Mark. Glad you liked the movie.
I will drive into San Francisco this evening and see Slumdog Millionaire at the Kabuki and then this film at The Bridge tonight. Finally! Your review looks splendid as I said way back in comment #1, and I can’t wait to take this in and get back to you here, Craig.
Enjoy both those films tonite Alexander. As you may have seen I have been proclaiming SLUMDOG, DEAR ZACHARY and WALL-E as the years’s three five-star films, with THE VISTOR, SYNCHOTECHE, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, and EDGE OF HEAVEN at 4 and a half. But I would like to know what you and others think of them, as I have exhausted my blowhard rhetoric now.
I have a show tonite in Manhattan (3 and a half hours!) of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, which won the Tony this past year for Best Play. I am excited about it, but the temperature here in now around 30 and will drop lower.
I should live in Minny where Pierre and Daniel reside. LOL!!
Hey, Craig, thanks for the heads up the director’s view. Definitely interesting.
You know, I thought most of the horror scenes were extremely funny. Especially the ending. They’re not inherently, but the way they’re shot I found quite comic. I thought the film was fairly darkly humorous. Not sure what that says about me. :)
I have to say, the film reminds me a little of Carrie. Psychological supernatural wish-fulfillment for a picked-on teenager at the edge of puberty.
Interesting compariosn, K. I can see it, although Carrie doesn’t end up with any friends, right(?), so we could call this the more hopeful version of that genre (heh heh).
The film definitely has a very dark sense of humor, no doubt about it.
You kind of mean funny in a good way, right? Some people hated the scene with the cats, but I thought it was kind of intentionally funny and didn’t ruin the quiet momentum of the film.