Let the Right One In
"Let the Right One In" has been getting tons of buzz at the fest ever since is glowing review in the free English-language newspaper 'The Mirror.' A Sweedish film about a 12 year old vampire girl (Eli) who moves in next to oft-bullied Oskar in the Sweedish suburbs. The film revolves around their developing relationship as he slowly finds out her dark secret. Her 'father' provides her with blood by killing local civilians in the park and bringing back buckets of blood to their apartment, but even at this, her thirst gets the better of her and she begins attacking innocent bystanders.
While violent, this by no means is a vampire movie in the traditional sense. Rather its a coming of age story for Oskar as Eli teaches him to stand up against his bullies. The film speaks more to childhood angst than bloodsucking and gore and herein lies its strength. Moreover, its portrayal of the fine line between 'puirity' and 'sexuality' captivates the audience and pulls us deeper into their relationship while challenging preconceived notions of childhood innocence and iin one memorable scene the two lay naked in bed together talking but never having sex.
The pacing however, is a bit slow and constantly flip-flops between characters (including several storylines that include the local neighbours). As well, the storyline forces us to by sympathetic to a girl who is verbally, emotionally and physically abusive to her 'father' and rather than paint her as a victim of her thirst, I would have loved to have seen her portrayed as a much more flawed character where her obvious abusive nature is slowly projected onto Oskar. Finally, I felt a glaring error on the part of the film was the lack of police investigation in the film. Having grown up in a suburb, I know that even one death would cause a public outcry, especially if they were strung up on a tree and bled dry. Where the hell are the cops when Eli's father hunts people in the park? How about when a 12 year old girls attacks three grown adults and beats them to a pulp? Turns out in Sweden, nobody really minds a bit of homicide.
While the buzz at the festival is overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the film, I always feel so awkward when someone asks me what I thought as I have so many mixed opinions on it. While I think it tried a bit too hard to be art house, and while I really liked it, I'm certainly not as into it as the festival goers are. Perhaps that makes me a bad judge of quality films, but maybe I'm just not into the hype. Watch the film and tell me what you think.
Upcoming Reviews:
What We Do Is Secret
Sparrow
A Colt Is My Passport
The Detective
Trailer Park of Terror
The Assembly
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