Review by gloria wong

The first time we see Oskar, a nerdy twelve-year-old boy living with his mother in Stockholm, he's in his bedroom late at night, fantasizing about exacting revenge on his bullies with a very real pocket knife. That is also the first time his new neighbour Eli, also twelve (or thereabouts), sees him - through the window. Eli and Oskar meet the next night in their apartment building's courtyard. He says that she smells. She says they can't be friends. Of course, they have to become friends but first they must overcome a small problem - Eli is a vampire.

I have to say, I love vampire stories - is there a more potent metaphor out there for human isolation and longing? Let the Right One In doesn't offer any particularly novel twists on the genre, but it is a well-executed and surprisingly touching story about children who are burdened with problems bigger than themselves.

Let the Right One In
Tomas Alfredson | Sweden | 2007 | 114min