‘Let the Right One In‘, the 2008 film by the Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (original title is ‘Låt den rätte komma in‘) confirms that good films can be made in any genre. I am not at all a fan of vampire films, but this film, even though it takes the phenomenon quite seriously, managed to captivate me and, at times, make me feel emotional. Yes, there are vampires who act according to the rules we know, but in this vampire world there is also loneliness, and adolescence, and friendship and love. All of this takes place in the frozen setting of a Scandinavian thriller.
The story takes place in 1982, which allows the filmmakers to describe a world that is somewhat simpler than the one we live in today. The heroes live in an apartment building located in a not-so-well-off neighborhood. The facade of the apartment building is filmed several times. Behind each window lives a family or a single person for whom contemplating the frozen world outside is one of the few amusements in life. But strange things happen there. The main hero of the film is a 12-year-old boy, who doesn’t really have any friends and who is bullied and beaten by a gang of schoolmates. In the neighboring apartment lives a young girl who is apparently the same age, together with a man (her father?). The two lonely pre-teens become friends. Will a love story start brewing? If so, it won’t be an ordinary one. What connection is there between these two heroes and the crimes that happen in the neighborhood?
Screenwriter John Ajvide Lindqvist (who turned his own novel into a film) and director Tomas Alfredson have put together elements from very different genres that work unexpectedly well, in sometimes surprising directions. The bond between the two heroes is treated with sensitivity and manages to be convincing even though it is very far from conventional romantic stories. The performances of the two very young actors, excellently chosen and well directed, help, of course. Their names are Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. The vampire story fits very naturally into the action. ‘Let the Right One In‘ has quite a few horror scenes, and yet they are filmed with taste and caution. It is a film about teenagers, but not for teenagers, but which I would still not forbid teenagers from watching. A successful attempt in a genre that very easily falls into parody and gratuitous violence. This is not the case here.