Director: Tomas Alfredson
Novel: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Screenplay: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Producers: Carl Molinder, John Nordling
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 114 min.
Country of origin: Sweden
Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Though it’s been covered quite extensively here at R3 as of late, it is not without good reason. Let the Right One spreads several layers of all our favorite elements over a very enjoyable 2 hours. Vampires are an obvious favorite around these parts; as are nice, slow-burning, art house pictures with beauty, emotion, heart, a bit of blood and even a few laughs. Yes, Let the Right One In truly has a bit of everything mixed in and it somehow manages to do it without being messy or clumsy.

The story is simple. A quiet boy named Oskar lives a fairly simple and isolated existence with his father in a seemingly dingy apartment building. Until one evening he’s awoken by people moving in next door during the dead of night. The young girl that moves in seems to be equally shy as he and her find they have a few things in common over the next few nights and they quickly become close friends. But as we soon find out, the little girl can only be seen at night for a very good reason: she’s a vampire.

While not the masterpiece some claim it to be as it is fairly simplistic in it’s idea (which isn’t really a weakness, just not a plus), I do find (like Marina) that the more I think about and discuss the film with others, the more I find that I enjoy the ambiance and style immensely and really want to revisit this film as soon as humanly possible.

Beauty doesn’t begin to describe the cinematography here. The entire picture is blanketed in a hue of light blue (much like the Underworld franchise) with smatterings of color delicately and deliberately eased in to areas of the frame to create something eye-catching and stylistically pleasing. All of this works out spectacularly well within the confines of the locale; a small wintery town in Sweden, constantly covered in snow and where one can always see one’s breath in the air. The mood is so well done, that it might be apropos for one to bring along a sweater to the theater… just in case.

The vampire aspect to the film is almost beside the point. It most certainly adds a layer of intrigue and depth to the complications of a relationship, but the film goes beyond a simple “Buffy/Angel” relationship story. School bullies, parental authority and loneliness are all cornerstones to the idea behind the film. Throwing in the Vampire aspect just gives the film maker the ability to add some gore, intrigue and turn it into a genre picture rather than just another coming of age movie.

I also quite enjoyed the filmmaker’s use of all of the aspects of vampirism that aren’t always explored in modern film. Everyone knows about crosses and garlic – see just about any other vampire movie in existence for examples of these. But here we explore not only the danger of sunlight, but also the subtleties and consequences of other vampire “no-no’s”. Eating food that is not blood for example. Or as the title suggests, why can’t a vampire enter a residence without being invited? We all know this rule, but why is it there, how does it work and what are the consequences should it be ignored? I love the fact that Let the Right One takes these ideas and runs with them.

Yes the film is a tad predictable, but not in the way one might think. It is predictable in that there are really only three or four ways in which the movie could end (none of them terribly uplifting). But the question of which of these paths the movie will take is difficult to predict until the very end. And each of the possible outcomes are fun to discuss and examine. What if it had gone this way or that way?

Child acting over the last decade or so within major motion pictures has grown exponentially in talent and versatility. Even coming out of Sweden, Let the Right One exemplifies this in spades. Particularly the vampire girl, played by Lina Leandersson, who is stunning in her role. It will be interesting to see if these two young stars are able to blossom into a full blown acting career.

With very little CGI or make-up work, the film creates a subtle creepiness that is very effective, but is also touching at the same time. Curious that there were a few kleenex’ being pulled out of purses in the screening I attended because I didn’t find it to be sad at all. Touching yes, maybe even a bit on the depressing side, but certainly not tear-inducing. But apparently others feel otherwise. So when a genre picture of this nature (arthouse drama meets neck-biting blood letting) brings in the first ever sold out showing in After Dark Film Festival history, meanwhile has people gushing over its style, story and substance let alone acting prowess, this really says something about the film and is obviously something quite special.

Links:
IMDb profile
Flixster Profile for Let the Right One In