Let the Right One In

2008 vampire movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: Poor Oskar. He's underdeveloped, has goofy hair even for a Swedish kid, and is getting bullied at school. Luckily for him, an androgynous vampire named Eli moves in next door. He befriends her, sharing a Rubik's cube and having boring conversations. When the old dude who collects blood for her gets himself caught, apparently because he's an idiot, Eli's relationship with Oskar deepens and she convinces him to stand up for himself. Then, they have more boring conversations, occasionally through a wall using Morse code.

A handful of scenes in Let the Right One In (a title I don't fully understand, by the way) are beautifully and artistically shot and effectively creepy. The climax is especially startling and effective, a very inventive shot that leaves just enough to the imagination and ends up more shocking because of it. This movie has a consistent tone that I really liked, and for the most part, the children chosen for the roles do a terrific job. I just don't think this movie is consistently great. It doesn't really add up to much at all. The story's flimsy, and the characters don't have a lot of depth, instead working more as types than anything else. There are a few scenes where there was an obvious attempt to shock me (artistically!) instead of allowing the story to unfold naturally, and they were ultimately more of a distraction than anything else. A subplot involving an infected woman seemed unnecessary and really really silly, especially during a scene involving a bunch of cats that I think might be the funniest thing I see all year. The end of that subplot was actually pretty funny, too. I also had trouble connecting with the characters despite the good acting. I'll admit that there might be a vampire bias at play here, but I do think that's the reason why some of this seemed a little derivative and possibly why some of the characters seemed flat. This is a beautiful enough movie. In fact, it's really really beautiful. But it's also pretty pretentious and a little shallow. The goth kids would all love it though!

This was recommended by Cory, a former goth kid.