Let the right one in movie review
Let the right one in credits:
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Written by: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Cast:
Kare Hedebrant (Oskar)
Lina Leandersson (Eli)
Per Ragnar (Hakan)
Release date: 2008
Spoiler alert: some crucial elements of the movie are commented in the following review. Be warned!
My bloody rating:
Let the right one in movie review:
Oskar, a 12 year old bullied boy from the suburb of Blackeberg in Stockholm, is dreaming of revenge on the boys who are bullying him at school. One night, in the playground behind his building, Oskar meets a young girl named Eli.
Eli (who is also 12 year old) is a strange girl who doesn't eat food or go out when the sun is out. To make things worse, Eli's father is a sadistic serial killer who is collecting his victim's blood for a mysterious reason.
Of course, Oskar will eventually discover that Eli is a young vampire who has been 12 year old for the last 200 years! Falling in love with a young vampire is a cool thing for someone who is rejected by all is peers!
This Swedish film is slow pace and very dark even if most actors involved in it are quite young. The photography is cold, chilling and very effective for this kind of thriller.
Most actors are new to film making, but overall, it doesn't affect the quality of the movie as most of them are actually very gifted and talented. This is especially true for both main (and young) actors.
The film does have a few shocking sequences, but this vampire movie puts more emphasis on the social side of the story than displaying murders or blood in large quantity. However, gore scenes are usually well-done and more suggestive than descriptive.
The music and sounds are good although they are generally (and intentionally) underused. I must admit that some sequences were a little bit too boring for me, something that could've been avoided by adding more music or sounds (to help me stay awake!).
The scenario is interesting and does deliver a strong message. Even if the movie did have good comments from critics all around the world, I couldn't agree with those since the pace was too slow and the scenario too simple to keep me entertained for an hour and a half or so.
One annoying thing about vampire movies is the fact that they do waste a good 30 to 45 minutes of running time justifying and showing stuff to reveal the secret nature of their main characters. We all know that vampires don't eat food, go out in the sun or hate garlic!
Skipping (or at least reducing) this part could improve this movie and give more running time for the director to display other elements about the characters (if other elements are available, of course!)
Let the right one in is a dark movie about teenagers that should be viewed as a film with a strong sociological comment rather than a horror movie about vampires.
Let the right one in movie review written by: Martin Berube
Go back from Let the right one in movie review to home page
