THATFILMGUY

[pullquote cite=”” type=”left, right”][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B002BMZZM8][/pullquote] Oskar is unhappy. An outsider at school, he’s a pallid, shy, awkward child; a child who tucks his jumper into his trousers and dreams of vengeance towards his bullies. He wanders the snow covered estate where he lives, always alone. Until one day he meets Eli, a girl his age, and he sees a chance for friendship. Eli is an outsider too, but for a different reason “ she’s a vampire and needs human blood to live, which perhaps unsurprisingly, makes it difficult for her to integrate successfully into society.

Eli lives with a man who may or may not be her father. He cares for her and finds her the blood that she needs to survive. But to do this, he has to go out and find victims, which is of course fraught with peril. It’s only a matter of time before he is caught, and when he does, Eli is left alone to fend for herself, and things inevitably escalate. Meanwhile, the bullying of Oskar is growing more serious and Eli’s advice to fight back isn’t looking like sound counsel¦

Let The Right One In is a horror film only in the sense that it features vampires. And while there’s some gore, it’s not the kind of film that is likely to prevent you from sleeping at night. It’s actually really difficult to place it in a particular genre. It’s a touching story of a strange friendship (both child leads are incredibly good which helps to pull this off). It’s also a dark, bleak drama about human nature and violence “ Eli hurts because she has to. Oskar would hurt his tormentors if he could. Are they so different?

Let The Right One In’s final scenes are particularly excellent, the culmination of a careful, measured build up “ the pacing is especially strong.  The finale features the kind of scenes where you feel you know what’s going to happen and might want to look away but can’t.

Dave Rogers