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Written by: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant. Lina Leandersson. Per Ragnar
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A bullied boy forms a unique friendship with his new neighbor, a peculiar girl with a dark secret.
Verdict
I like he English language remake more, and that's likely because I saw it first. Both movies are nearly identical except this one is Swedish. Having seen the remake, this becomes more trivia or behind the scenes to see how the movies differ, which is very little. A bullied boy makes a friend that happens to be a vampire. His desire to have a friend is stronger than his revulsion that she's a monster. It's difficult not to think she's taking advantage of a boy that just wants a friend so that she has a guardian to help her navigate the waking hours.
It depends.
Review
This is the inspiration for Let Me In, well that basically is a shot for shot remake in English. Seeing that one first spoils this movie. I was surprised at how similar they are, nearly identical. What the English remake adds is a bit of backstory for the guardian. In the English version he's given an unspoken backstory, indicating that Eli finds a guardian, uses them, and then finds a new one. It's implied in this movie, but without acknowledging it, or having seen the remake, you may not consider the implications.
Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is bullied at school. The haircut doesn't help. He doesn't have any friends, though he has a knife that makes him feel powerful. A new neighbor moves in, Eli (Lina Leandersson), a girl his age and presumably her father. She tells Oskar they can't be friends, but that only makes the why more intriguing.
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| Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson play Oskar, Eli |
If you didn't know what was going on, Eli's guardian killing someone would raise some questions. She has to feed, and her guardian helps procure blood. When he fails, we see that she's quite capable herself yet forces him to clean up the mess. It seems one sided.
Eli returns to the playground where Oskar is. She's dismissive, but she's there for a reason. She claims she doesn't want to be friends, but she keeps showing up at the playground. They become friends, and I wondered if it was psychological. Telling him no just to pique his curiosity. She does advise him to fight back against his bullies.
Oskar is this naive kid that just wants a friend. When he finds one, he doesn't realize she's a vampire. The clues are mostly for the audience. Further into the movie, so much of what she does feels like manipulation. She no longer has a guardian, and she needs someone to navigate a world where she can't go out during the day. She preys on the vulnerable. It's Oskar now, and it was her old guardian before. I like how the remake makes that more explicit. You wonder how many boys she's befriended and turned into her guardian over the decades. It's not that Oskar is particularly unique, Eli just needs a guardian that has the right disposition.
The problem is that I've already seen Let Me In which is a straight remake. That means I've already seen this movie. While this has some differences, it's too subtle to make a difference. I like that the remake is more implicit that Eli befriends boys that grow up to take care of her. This movie hints at Eli's background and history, or at least raises questions. There are no answers. The theme is that regardless of what Eli is, Eli and Oskar are now friends and linked by blood.
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