The Martlet

If you are looking for a fast-paced Hollywood vampire thriller without an ounce of charm, Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) isn’t for you.

But the film is everything the dreadfully emo Twilight lacked as a vampire love story. Tomas Alfredson’s understated romance between a young middle school boy named Oskar and his next door neighbour, Eli, is chock full of emotion without the ugly special effects and awful dialogue.

The story, penned by John Ajvide Lindqvist, is set in 1981 and tells of the bullied Oskar, who lives in the bleak and sparsely populated Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. Once he discovers his new neighbour is different from other children, he befriends her as an outcast. But Eli is a vampire. Vampires must kill to survive, and she soon teaches him to fight the bullies. Her compassionate insight into his rough life allows Oskar to overcome his initial fear, and he slowly develops feelings for her.

The film’s beauty is in the relationship between Oskar and Eli. She is his glimmer of light, which is portrayed when they share moments alone by the playground at dark. Oskar is the only connection Eli keeps in her lonely and bloody existence, and they have a love that is beautifully childish and tragic.

By day, Let the Right One In is a story of facing your enemies and fighting back. However, it is a love story set in the dark of night. Their love is marred by bloody violence and an intrigue that creates chaos when inhabitants drop dead from the hunger of a vampire.

But Let the Right One In transcends the generic vampire film. Together with the cold images and the dreamy score, the two young actors deliver one hell of a drama. The film is stark, which might be hard to digest for those who prefer “drop-dead gorgeous” Twilight vampires and unbridled special effects, but it shows the bleakness of vampires and the conflicts of suburban living better than any recent vampire film.

Let the Right One In really is a stroke of genius in its creation of a dynamic love story between a boy plagued by bullies, and the loneliest of beings — vampires. Does it get more endearing than this?