Let the Right One In

Though it boasts a number of admittedly irresistible horror elements, Let the Right One In primarily (and ultimately) comes off as one of the most memorable and flat-out engrossing coming-of-age stories to come around in quite some time. Director Tomas Alfredson has infused the proceedings with a stark, downright eye-catching visual sensibility that effectively mirrors the spare storyline, which mostly revolves around the friendship that blossoms between a put-upon young boy (Kåre Hedebrant’s Oskar) and his mysterious new neighbor (Lina Leandersson’s Eli). The film’s exceedingly deliberate pace certainly demands a fair bit of patience from the viewer, however, as screenwriter John Ajvide Lindqvist takes his time in setting up the various characters and allowing the plot to organically unfold. And while Lindqvist’s head-scratching aversion to exposition does result in a few unanswered questions (eg who’s that guy fetching blood for Eli?), the degree to which the scripter has fleshed-out the movie’s two central characters and their increasingly compelling bond proves more than adequate in terms of capturing (and sustaining) the viewer’s interest. The emphasis on Oskar and Eli’s platonic relationship hardly precludes Alfredson from peppering the movie with several seriously sinister interludes, as the filmmaker offers up one brilliantly conceived set-piece after another – including a periphery character’s jaw-dropping encounter with a room full of cats and a watery confrontation between Eli and several of Oskar’s bullies. That the film culminates with an ending that’s just about perfect cements its place as a thoroughly original and consistently engaging piece of work, with Alfredson’s innovative directorial choices and the uniformly affecting performances playing a significant role in Let the Right One In‘s undeniable success.

***1/2 out of ****