Let the Right One In (2008)

Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.

Director:

Tomas Alfredson

Writers:

John Ajvide Lindqvist (screenplay), John Ajvide Lindqvist (novel)

Stars:

Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 75 wins & 57 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kåre Hedebrant	...	Oskar
Lina Leandersson	...	Eli
Per Ragnar	...	Håkan
Henrik Dahl	...	Erik
Karin Bergquist	...	Yvonne
Peter Carlberg	...	Lacke
Ika Nord	...	Virginia
Mikael Rahm	...	Jocke
Karl-Robert Lindgren	...	Gösta
Anders T. Peedu	...	Morgan
Pale Olofsson	...	Larry
Cayetano Ruiz	...	Magister Avila
Patrik Rydmark	...	Conny
Johan Charles	...	Andreas (as Johan Sömnes)
Mikael Erhardsson	...	Martin

Storyline

Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | boyfriend girlfriend relationship | solitude | bullying | girl | 

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Taglines:

Eli is 12 years old. She's been 12 for over 200 years and, she just moved in next door.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some bloody violence including disturbing images, brief nudity and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though the film takes place in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, the film principal photography was shot in Luleå in the north of Sweden, to ensure enough snow and cold weather.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 45 mins) The bully would have had to rotate his arm 180 degrees from the direction in which he'd "normally" hold Oscar's hair, for it to be positioned with his knuckles facing back toward himself, as shown in the underwater shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Oskar: Squeal like a pig. So, squeal.

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.20 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Dags å välja sida
Written by Per Åke Persson
Performed by Peps Blodsband

User Reviews

Let's remake this excellent movie?

At it's worst "Let the Right One In" is far too subtle and slow and nothing like typical horror movies, (if it should be considered one.) At its best its one of the better films we've seen in the last decade. As a foreign film it should see wider American distribution and publicity than any such film since"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Our hero here, who is just twelve, is so perfectly likable and so well played he is the sort of boy you'd want to raise, or the sort you'd want your child to end up with. He's richly contemplative and caring, lonely, but not broken, cool, but not pretentious, precocious and yet without arrogance. Who knew that he would fall for a vampire?

It's a story more like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" than " The Lost Boys." It's more about asceticism and existentialism than blood and gore. I won't give any details away, but this film is neither convoluted nor cliché. Sure, it's not amongst the best stories. It's not a formula film, but it's intelligently written and doesn't start anything it doesn't conclude, (well not too much).

Beautifully shot in a snowy and desolate Swedish town, the film very much carries on a world of its own. The film as an entirety is subtle, even slow. Likewise the effects are far from showy, making tasteful use of CGI with kitties or watching our vampire climb seven stories.

The sound does not rely on a creepy score, nor attempts a hip or ambient soundtrack. Instead, it successfully amplifies the sounds of its fictional and isolated universe, (which is far away from reality and amid somewhere in the early 1980s.) For the most part we only hear what the characters or the world around them, gusts of wind, the brushing of teeth, The Clash. Though most notable is all of the silence, all of the stillness that creeps about keeping the viewer mystified and engaged.

What the film does is allow adequate time for the viewer to develop a consciousness about the situation of the story. It allows us to make our own determinations without being told what to conclude. Throughout the entire movie I could only count one legitimate flaw, a tiny divisive issue, which I'm sure was mulled over by a brilliant director and screenwriter.

It certainly won't be for everyone. It's not for those who can't read. It's not for kids. And it's not for those who can't bear non-traditional story telling. For me, the film was a breath of fresh air in an increasingly tiring and rehashed film industry. At least this film is rehash of a different kind.

This film should have seen a slew of Oscar nods and it seemed to me this film could have had a wide release. Nevertheless it will turn out to be a classic.

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish Spanish

Release Date:

12 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Let the Right One In

Filming Locations:

Blackeberg, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,295, 26 October 2008

Gross USA:

$2,122,065

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,227,336

Company Credits

Production Co:

EFTI, Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB, Filmpool Nord

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1