Let The Right One In (2008, Sweden)

A 12-year-old boy, Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), living in Stockholm with his mother makes a friend in Eli (Lina Leandersson), a strange and curious girl who appears to Oskar in late-night encounters in the playground. An unlikely friendship is formed between the two against a spate of violent, bloody murders in the area, and the story unfolds as both children’s lives develop in unforeseen ways.

A twist to the genre like few others before it, ‘Let The Right One In’ plays on the contrast between the cold-hearted brutality now synonymous with the vampire genre and the innocence of youth to stun the viewer, and the constant play on blood-red vs. crisp-white is an image that creates a style of it’s own. The most visually stunning scene, in which our vampiric ‘heroine’ saves Oskar from being drowned by his bullies in the only way she knows how simply drops jaws.

The Morrissey inspired title of ‘Let The Right One In’ provides an apt background for the innovative and original style of the film, and Tomas Alfredson’s adapation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel took unique inspiration in developing the chilling and abruptly shocking aura it seeps through the screen.

‘Let The Right One In’ is more gripping than anything I have watched before, and is fascinating in its production. The acting is brilliant, and the two child stars match the dark but glimmering snowy setting in a powerfully understated way. The music, effects and cinematography all entwine to create a horror film the likes of which we rarely see in the UK, avoiding excessive gore and complex twists and turns to produce something as staggeringly beautiful as it is edge-of-your-seat gripping.

Find out more here (IMDB), or buy it here (amazonUK)

Tags: cinema, coming-of-age, drama, film, foreign, horror, international, kare hedebrant, let the right one in, lina leandersson, sweden, tomas alfredon