Let the Right One In () is a 2008 Swedish romantic horror film directed by Tomas Alfredson, based on the 2004 novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay. The film tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy who develops a friendship with a strange child in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s.
A film adaptation of Lindqvist's novel began development in 2004 when John Nordling acquired the rights to produce the project. Alfredson, unconcerned with the horror and vampire conventions, decided to tone down many elements of the novel and focus primarily on the relationship between the two main characters and explore the darker side of humanity. Selecting the lead actors involved a year-long process with open castings held all over Sweden. In the end, Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson were chosen for the leading roles. Leandersson's role in the film was dubbed by Elif Caylan. Principal photography took place in 2007 in Luleå, with additional filming in Blackeberg. The film was produced by EFTI, Sveriges Television and Filmpool Nord, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, WAG and Canal+.
Let the Right One In premiered at the Gothenburg Film Festival on 26 January 2008, where it received the Nordic Film Prize. It was released in Sweden on 24 October 2008 by Sandrew Metronome. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for the performances of the two leads, the cinematography, screenplay, and direction. It won several awards, including the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival, as well as four Guldbagge Awards, including Best Director for Alfredson, Best Cinematography for Van Hoytema, and Best Screenplay for Lindqvist. It also won the Saturn Award for Best International Film and the Empire Award for Best Horror Film. At the 63rd British Academy Film Awards, the film was nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language. An American remake, titled Let Me In, was released in 2010.
Plot
Oskar, a meek 12-year-old boy, resides with his mother Yvonne in the western Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982. His classmates regularly bully him, and he spends his evenings imagining revenge, collecting clippings from newspapers and magazines about murders. One night he meets Eli, who appears to be a pale girl of his age. Eli has recently moved into the next-door apartment with an older man, Håkan. Eli initially informs Oskar that they cannot be friends. Over time, however, the two begin to form a relationship, and exchange Morse code messages through their adjoining wall. Eli learns that Oskar is being bullied by schoolmates and encourages him to stand up for himself. Oskar enrolls in weight-training classes after school.
Earlier, Håkan stops and kills a passerby on a footpath to harvest blood for Eli, but is interrupted by an approaching dog walker. Eli is prompted to waylay and kill a local man, Jocke, making his way home after having said goodnight to his best friend, Lacke. A cat-loving recluse, Gösta, witnesses the attack from his flat but, in disbelief, decides not to report the incident. Håkan hides Jocke's body in an ice-hole in the local lake. Håkan makes another effort to obtain blood for Eli by trapping a teenage boy in a changing room after school. When he is about to be discovered by the boy's friends, Håkan pours concentrated hydrochloric acid onto his own face, disfiguring it to prevent the authorities from identifying him. Eli visits Håkan in the hospital; Håkan offers her his neck for feeding. Eli drains him of his blood, and Håkan falls out the window. Eli goes to Oskar's apartment and spends the night with him, during which time they agree to "go steady", though Eli states, "I'm not a girl".
During an ice skating field trip at the lake, some of Oskar's fellow students discover Jocke's body. At the same time, the bullies again harass Oskar, who hits their leader Conny in the head with a metal pole, splitting his ear. Sometime later, unaware that Eli is a vampire, Oskar suggests that he and Eli form a blood bond, and cuts his hand, asking Eli to do the same. Eli, thirsting for blood but not wanting to harm Oskar, laps up his blood before running away. Lacke's girlfriend, Virginia, is subsequently attacked by Eli. Virginia survives but discovers that she has become painfully sensitive to sunlight. Virginia visits Gösta, only to be fiercely attacked by Gösta's cats. Soon after this, Oskar confronts Eli, who admits to being a vampire. Oskar is initially upset by Eli's need to kill people for survival. However, Eli insists that they are alike, in that Oskar wants to kill and Eli needs to kill, and encourages Oskar to "be me, for a little while."