Let the Right One In: The Anti-Twilight

Re-tooling the vampire genre

Let The Right One In (2008)
Dir. Tomas Alfredson
Grade: A

Tomas Alfredson’s “Let The Right One In” is the type of strangely moving film that stays with you long after seeing it. Manohla Dargis called it a “spectrally beautiful Swedish vampire movie,” which succinctly captures the essence of the film. Without the benefit of reading the book the film is based on, I am only informed by the film itself, which with bleak tones and steady direction creates a world that is as original as it is familiar. The young performers give remarkably good performances, and Tomas Alfredson displays real talent with a style reminiscent of Spain’s enfant terrible, Alejandro Amenábar.

The Plot

The film tells the unconventional story of Oskar (the talented Kåre Hedebrant), a twelve-year old boy who is mercilessly bullied in school by a crew of kids who tease him, beat him up, and harass him on a daily basis. Living with his mother in an unremarkable apartment complex, his life revolves around school, home, and his trips to visit his dad. Oskar is painfully introverted and consumed by a desire to seek revenge on those who harm him. He keeps a scrapbook underneath his bed where he collects gruesome news articles.

The first time we see Oskar, a young blond boy standing by a window, his hand reaching out and touching the glass recalls one of Bergman’s motifs (think of the boys in “The Silence,” “Persona,” and “Fanny Och Alexander,” among others). And that’s not where the Bergman similarities end – like “Hour of the Wolf,” it incorporates vampirism as a plot device. Here, however, the vampire is not an aristocratic intellectual, but Oskar’s androgynous twelve year old new neighbor. I say androgynous because it is not clear in the film whether Eli (the impressive Lina Leandersson) is a boy or a girl, neither or both (although Eli does declare more than once “I’m not a girl”). This element of ambiguity is one of the many carefully woven threads that run through this superficially simple but ultimately complex tale as Eli and Oskar forge a beautiful bond.

The film is decidedly bleak both in content and visually. There is no real sense of time (Is this a contemporary film? A period piece? Are we in the 1970s? The 1980s?) other than night and day. Hoyte van Hoytema’scinematography is vital to the mood of the film – the almost synthetic darkness of the night, the blankets of snow, and the stillness and controlled camerawork – it all adds up to a remarkably other-worldly vibe using the most basic of techniques and imbues the film with a consistent sense of foreboding that does not let go until the final frame.

Eli is an enigma. She (I’ll refer to her as a female for the purpose of this review) is twelve, but has been on earth for much longer (perhaps centuries). She is both compassionate and cruel toward her caretaker, Håkan (Per Ragnar), and conflicted about having to kill people in order to survive. One of the first things she tells Oskar in the desolate playground of the apartment complex is “I can’t be your friend.” Yet there she is, night after night, engaging with the smitten Oskar, even playing with a Rubik’s cube at his suggestion.

By all accounts, Håkan is an incompetent helper. He might have been effective as a younger man (assuming he has been with Eli that long), but the act of killing and obtaining blood for Eli becomes more and more difficult for him, as he makes mistake after mistake. As horrific as the scenes involving Håkan are, there is still a bit of humor thrown in for good measure. During the first attack we witness, for instance, Håkan panics when he hears people approaching him (and his unfortunate young victim) and in his desperation to escape unseen, he forgets to take the bucket of blood he’s collected. It’s truly funnier than it reads.

As Oskar and Eli get closer, Oskar begins to get out of his shell inch by inch. This is not a Hollywood film, though, so his “transformation” is decidedly subtle. He joins the weight-lifting crew and even takes Eli out. One of the sweetest scenes (and there are quite a few between these two) involves Oskar’s reaction when Eli gets sick after eating candy.

But this is a suspense film, after all, and there is plenty of stylized gore. Lacking a big budget, Alfredson is nevertheless able to deliver some thrills in very creative ways that invoke all senses. Whenever Oskar is close to Eli, he seems to smell something foul at times (is Eli rotting in the flesh when she is in desperate need of blood?). When Eli is hungry, we hear a disturbingly animalistic growl emanating from her small frame, not to mention her paleness and disheveled appearance during her most desperate moments. Eli’s superhuman abilities (she can climb walls, fly, and overtake adults) are conveyed matter-of-factly. Indeed, these abilities (and most of the goriest incidents) are not shown as much as suggested, leaving plenty to the imagination while simultaneously excising any doubt. The ultimate showdown of the film, set at a pool, is the perfect example of this type of masterful, efficient, and innovative filmmaking. While the film does falter at times when it takes on some of the broader, iconic aspects of vampirism (and during an ill-advised sequence involving some obviously CGI cats) the honesty of the story, its characters and the storytelling make it an indelible movie-going experience.

The Performances

There must be something in the water in Sweden, a country that has given us some of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen. Alfredson is very adept at working with children. The director does not condescend or put on display impossibly cute children, but rather gets down to their level (literally, the children dominate the film’s canvas as opposed to being dominated by it). Hedebrant as Oskar is very touching. Oskar goes through every possible emotion in the book, and Hedebrant steps up to the plate at each point. Leandersson is equally (if not more) effective – her gigantic eyes and thoughtful cadences are haunting. The supporting cast, including some locals and Oskar’s classmates, bring some color to a dreary palette.

Overall

There are some slightly uncomfortable scenes involving the children, but I did not feel like they were exploited in any way. This is not “The Exorcist,” a film that I admire intensely, but which gets more and more disturbing as I grow older because of the fact that Linda Blair’s parents allowed their thirteen-year-old child to be involved in it.

Notwithstanding this occasional discomfort, there is not one superfluous moment in the film, and its success or failure literally depended on the Oskar/Eli dynamic. It is because of them that it does work as successfully as it does.

This is a story about two lonely children who find comfort in one another and, perhaps, the first semblance of love, and whose world is made a bit warmer by the other. It is one of the best films of the year.