Let The Right One In

UK Release: 10th April 2009

Watched on TV: Wednesday 14th September 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 55mins

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

IMDb Plot Summary: 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.

My Review: Wow. I haven’t seen a film I’ve really liked it a while, and Let The Right One In has blown me away. 

I was a little wary at first. Of course, I had followed closely the press around it a few years ago, impressed at the rave reviews and have waited patiently for it to appear on terrestrial television. And at last it appeared. I have finally been able to see it and... it was worth the wait. 

I was worried it would be too gory or scary or just plain weird but it was none of the above. Yeah, there was blood but it’s a vampire movie - what do you expect? And there was a scene involving Eli draining a mans blood who had horrendous facial scarring where you could practically see his skull, but as there was so much emotional intensity behind it, it was more than gore for the sake of it as about 80% of scary movies do these days. It was there for a reason: those haunting, yet beautiful images of Sweden in the snow make those images stick, for a good reason, because it was such a great film! Oskar is introduced to us as a lonely boy, teased to the point of abuse by a few horrid boys in his class. He somehow makes friends with Eli and their relationship is the core of the film. It is raw, awkward and very real. What they go through, both individually (him coping with the bullying and being overlooked by his parents and her coping with what she is and what she has to do to survive) and together is incredibly moving and brilliantly absorbing. I found myself hooked. 

Score: 9/10