Let The Right One In

It's an interesting film, a vampire movie from a country with almost no
tradition of vampire movies (Sweden), and so presents the topic with an
originality, a far cry from the sexualised nature of the concept present in
many films, notably Twilight.

The film centres about Oskar, a weird kid who gets bullied at school, and Eli,
a young girl who moves in next door. Who turns out to be not so much an young
girl as a 200 year old vampire. Initially Eli is helped by an older man who
initially appears to be her father, who hunts people for her, but soon, she's
left on her own, and turns to Oskar for help.

The whole thing is shot in that stilted, almost amateurish style that European
films use to convey realism, sort of the style of no style. Not exactly
Dogme 95, bit certainly observes some of those rules, I think. It's quite slow
moving and quiet, and not a little creepy, even when there's not a vampire near
the scene.

In many ways, the film's greatest strength is that it presents the events as a document for you to consider; there's little directorial sleight of hand to tell you how to feel about what you've seen. And as such, the film stays with you for a long time, and gives you a lot to think about.