[My original 2009 review---hahahahahahah! I was a terrible reviewer I'm so so sorry!]
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/05/movie-review-let-right-one-in.html
If you want a really mature, in depth, smarty-pants review.... go read this instead. I didn't write it. That's for damn sure. I'm here to give a break down the way I'd give it to anyone on the street, using my words, the way you'd hear 'em if we spoke face to face. That said, I thought the movie was fucking phenomenal.
The story is about a 12 year old vampire who moves into a town in Sweden (Stockholm). The town is dreary, cold, and basically personifies Russia/Sweden the way you'd think about it when you think about alcoholism, hopelessness, depression, and hatred. It's just a rough town of hicks.
The opening sequence of this movie (a murder) sets the tone for the rest of this film, dark. This movie is clearly not American blockbuster Cinema. It does nothing to attempt to follow the normal flow of recycled cliche bullshit, where the scenes are expected and ordered, and the character slowly gets more powerful and then faces off with the enemy, striking them down right after their weakest moment. No. No, this movie is fucking brutal and cold. This movie if I had to draw a parallel can only be compared to Zodiac. That's the only other movie that made feel this way. It's actually very similar in some senses (tracking down masked murderers).
I should preface this review by saying two things:
One -- There are actually two different subtitled versions out there. One of which more closely adheres to the actual script/dialogue, and the other (I believe white subtitled version?) follows an Americanized version. To put this in perspective, there is a scene where the main character (Oskar -- 12yo boy) is being bullied in the locker room after his swim meet. The other tougher boys corner him, beat the ever living shit out of him and pull a knife. One says "now you know not to mess with us." and he says "I promise I won't tell!" The other version (the one we're talking about) says, and i quote "You say a word and we'll cut your pecker off and make you swallow it!" - "no!" "squeal like the piggy you are and we'll let you go!"
Yeah, this movie is like that.
Two -- There is an American version of this movie with a similar title. We are NOT talking about that film with Chloe Moretz.
Anyway, back to the review. The noir-esque (is that a word) vampire flick reminded me very much of 30 Days of Night. Dark, cold, brutal. Especially the scene(s) with red, white, and black. blood, snow, darkness. It'd be way more impressed with my analogy, but the other guy apparently did it first (even though this review was written before reading his)
The movie is not an action movie, nor a horror, nor a chiller, but rather a mix of the three (not so much the action). Although this is a love story, it certainly doesn't feel that way. I'm not exactly sure what nuanced genera this movie should be classified into, but suffice to say whatever tiny nitch of cinema it falls into, should be proud of it.
The vampire character, the 12yo girl, eventually reveals to the boy that she is in fact, not human, and needs blood to survive. This is where the story gets a bit confusing. Not confusing in terms of story, but in hidden nuanced meanings. From what I've been told, it's a story about pedophilia, molestation, rape, murder, PTSD, Stockholm syndrome etc etc. I haven't read the book, but I did talk to someone about this movie for a long time, and it's pretty fucking fucked up.
Anyhow, the "love story" of this movie is incredibly childish, but is a fantastic example of how real life can often be so brutally exacting in its cruelty on innocents. By the time the movie reaches it's climax, similar to Breaking Bad's Finale last night, you already know more or less exactly what to expect when it hits....and oh boy does it hit like a ton of bricks.
The Vampire theme of this movie is central, but if you remove that element there is so much more to it. It's a gritty, dirty and coldhearted film, where abuse is really the underlying theme. This is no kids movie.
I think there is a lot to be said about a movie that can capture so much while saying so little. This is a movie where you need to read between the lines. It manages to both entertain, and tell a story, and give you a gut-wrenching look into the lives of an abused child, while still maintaining it's status as a watchable genera movie (vampire) without transgressing into Americanized horseshit, where the characters pause every three minutes to remind the audience what's going on {The classic "IF WE DONT DO THIS EVERYONE IS DEAD!" or "But...wait...if he didn't call...that means ... he's -- OH GOD!" ([Looking at you every PG-13 movie ever]).
Overall, I'd recommend this movie to anyone with an IQ above average with a strong stomach. If you enjoyed Zodiac, The Killer Inside Me, I suggest you check out this film. It's more a tragedy flick now that I think about it.
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