Young Blood: Let The Right One In and the Hiddenness of Truth

Tomas Alfredson‘s Let the Right One In is a vampiric romance and horror drama film that acts as a filmic critique on gender issues. The film revolves around a bullied child and an immortal girl as they struggle with their immoral desire to shed blood out of vengeance and necessity.

The movie begins with Eli (Lina Leandersson) moving to an empty apartment unit with an elderly Håkan (Per Ragnar). One night, Eli sees her neighbor Oksar (Kåre Hedebrant) plunging a knife through a pole, vengefully imagining his bullies. This fateful night marks the beginning of Oskar and Eli’s growth and relationship, as well as a string of deaths they leave thereafter.

Initially, I felt that Let the Right One In was, in most ways, a beautiful film with an equally beautiful ending. The cinematography, for me, was top notch, in that I was reminded of The Grand Budapest Hotel but with a sickly, dark, and unrefined rusticity—my favorite scene being the time when an exhausted Håkan, battered by the guilt of countless murders and blood harvesting, gives in to his hopelessness and disfigures himself with hydrochloric acid. That scene was nigh perfectly shot, showing on the left side of the screen Håkan, who has lost the will to carry on, and the right side the young men freeing their captured teammate. Much of the film was dimly lit, catering to its own vampiric design. True enough, Alfredson’s film is heavily scenic.

Aside from its visual artistry, the vampiric aspect of the film is founded upon folkloric legend, as vampire-centric media ought to be. The title itself alludes to the age-old rule that vampires cannot enter a house unless invited in by whoever lives there. Personally, I appreciate this, seeing as aside from Adventure Time,The Vampire Diaries, and about a handful of other media, most vampire films and shows ignore this one little detail. For many, to be invited in is a feature vampires could do without, but Let the Right One In, with its many themes of finding who to spend life with, who should be your companion, and who you should share your life to, the concept of invitation and all its symbolic meanings go far beyond the confines of a simple house. Oskar is inviting Eli not only inside his unit, but rather his entire life.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the storyline also tapped into the feelings of our early adolescence, invoking both the curiosity of what it’s like to love as well as the wretchedness of Oskar’s situation as a victim of bullying. Let the Right One In encapsulates through the eyes of a twelve-year old boy what life for many kids sadly is. His character is deeply rooted in realism, even going so far as imagining himself murdering his oppressors and collecting macabre news clippings. As dark and as tragic as this is, Oskar’s life is more relatable than we’d like to admit, and it is made even darker knowing that he has never had any psychological help or has expressed the desire to release these feelings through words. The unwillingness to share how he truly feels is actually very common throughout the film, as one of the central themes of Alfredson’s film is the self-imposed reticence of one’s true colors.

Much of the hiddenness of a character’s feelings, backgrounds, and even sexual preferences are withheld from us. Instead, we are treated with indirect explanations, discreet visual clues, and vague scenes that are initially confusing. Although this excess of subtlety is what makes Let the Right One In so extremely marvelous, we as the audience suffer from the amount of withheld information and are given no definite answers by the end of the film. It is as if Alfredson himself is compelling us to create our own theories and conclusions based on our observations and interpretations of the scenes, which is actually as much fun as it is difficult. Still, one thing is for certain—everyone has something to hide from both one another and the audience.

In Oskar’s case, he is in truth deranged and violent. His tendency to collect morbid headlines is the result of psychological pain, and he spends his free time musing on the thought of vengeance. It is unnatural for a twelve-year old boy to indulge in sick fantasies of death, but quite understandable for victims of cruel bullying and physical abuse. His unwillingness to unravel the truth about his grim fantasies is exemplified in his tolerance of Conny (Patrik Rydmark) and his little gang. Being no stranger to violence, Oskar even nonchalantly slits his own hand and expels blood from his self-inflicted wound. These feelings, however, are unraveled when Oskar takes Eli’s advice to stand up for himself. While skiing, Oskar finds an iron pole, which he then uses to split Conny’s ear. My second favorite scene was when Oskar did this, and as Conny screamed in pain; a shot of Oskar’s smug, victorious face was shown, looking down on the bully and satisfied that he has finally enacted revenge.

Oppositely, the other bullies Martin (Mikael Erhardsson) and Andreas (Johan Sömnes) who are initially seen as bullies alongside Conny, are in truth reluctant and actually unwilling to harm Oskar. Throughout the film, they are only forced by Conny to hurt Oskar, but every time they do so, a remorseful, unwilling expression is etched upon their faces. From hitting Oskar after he left the school, to being unable to participate in pushing him down before Oskar hits Conny with an iron pole, to watching helplessly as Jimmy (Rasmus Luthander), Conny’s older brother, drowns Oskar, Martin and Andreas are silent. It is quite unfortunate then that in the end of the film, only Andreas survived Eli’s killing spree.

As for Håkan, he is shown, at first, to be a killer who harvests blood. It is a macabre profession, and it is always wrong to kill, but we are later shown that he does so out of love for Eli. This love is originally thought to be a fatherly love for his daughter, which is sacred. Second only to a mother’s love, a father’s love for his daughter is described as protective and giving. Initially, I thought asking Eli not to see Oskar for her own protection was understandable, and willingly giving her the blood of the innocent was his was of “providing” for his daughter. When I watched it, these external acts of love genuinely touched my heart. It was only after coming to the realization that Håkan couldn’t have been related to Eli that my original feelings were shattered. It heavily disappointed and disgusted me that Håkan, could have been just another boy in Eli’s life, and that his loving acts weren’t unconditional at all. Rather, he asked Eli not to see Oskar out of pure jealousy, and gave her blood so that she could continue living while Håkan continues to undress her with his pedophiliac mind. Again, this is done subtly, and we are left wondering if Håkan ever did, in fact, physically touch Eli. This revelation left me questioning the film, but affirming Alfredson’s talent.

In line with this hiddenness of the self, there is also the theme of homosexuality. Let the Right One In is a progressive film that either tackled the issue of homosexuality ineffectively or perfectly in a world that is still quite prejudiced when it comes to homosexuals. This is best exemplified in the relationships of Jocke (Mikael Rahm) and Lacke (Peter Carlberg), and most importantly of all, Eli and Oskar.

Jocke and Lacke are first seen tightly embracing each other before parting ways, and they remain hugging for a long while. After Jocke is killed, Lacke becomes increasingly devastated. He is seen sobbing longingly for Jocke, and ends up berating his girlfriend Virginia (Ika Nord), telling her she does not understand what he and Jocke had. Lacke even says “I have nothing left now he’s gone” after Jocke’s death, despite the fact that his girlfriend, whom he loves very much, is sitting next to him.

Eli and Oskar’s relationship is much deeper. Initially, I saw Eli and Oskar’s relationship as sweet. Personally, I was rooting for them as a couple, and I liked the idea of their “happily ever after” at the end of the film. However, much like how I was disgusted with the revelation that Håkan was attracted to Eli, I was genuinely saddened by the dark implications of the film.

Speaking of Eli, she is the epitome of the film’s two main themes. Throughout the film, she is seen hiding a large part of her life both as a vampire, as well as a male. It can also be speculated that Eli is more manipulative than Alfredson chooses to portray. Eli, therefore, is as thematic as he is folkloric as a vampire.

Initially thought of as a sweet, needy, innocent, and immature vampiric girl, Eli’s true nature is revealed after killing Jocke. After the epiphany that Håkan was once her twelve-year old lover, as Oskar now is, my eyes were opened to the possibility of an Eli that is more sinister and manipulative than that of Dracula or Count Orlok himself. To better understand this malevolence, we must look at this quote from a vampire child in the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

“I’m just a little girl! The Dark Brotherhood killed my mama and papa, and then they took me captive! Please, please help me! Rather convincing, don’t you think? In truth, I’m no more a little girl than you are. I was once, of course. Three hundred years ago. Vampirism tends to keep one remarkably… fresh. My targets make the mistake of not perceiving me as a threat. Last mistake they ever make.” —Babette

As the only vampire locked in the body of a child in the world of Skyrim, Babette uses her external innocence, purity, and beauty, as well perceived helplessness as a lure to murder her targets. Her childlike appearance and demeanor make her the perfect assassin.

With this in mind, who is to say that Eli doesn’t use his age the same way? It is clear that Eli utilizes his feminine frame and body to exploit the sick and twisted nature of many people of the world, like Håkan. Throughout the film, Eli has been silent and shy towards Oskar, occasionally giving him advice and encouragement when it comes to the bullies. To Håkan, however, Eli is less merciful. After the failed attempt to harvest a stranger’s blood, Eli’s guardian turned servant is harshly reprimanded. It is this failure that Eli draws the line. Håkan is not the swift and cunning harvester of blood that he used to be. He has grown old and weary, and knowing this, Eli believes that it is time to look for a new pet. After Håkan is drained of blood, he is thrown out the window like disposable garbage. In the final scene of the film, Oskar is seen riding a train, presumably having abandoned his parents without saying goodbye, so he could begin his new life with Eli—a life synonymous to a living Hell; one strewn with murder, incessant hiding, and guilt. It will only get worse when he realizes that he, like Håkan, is just another spec in her immortal life, like a vampiric fling.

In the context of the horror genre, Eli is also perceived as a socially immoral monster, simply due to the fact that he is gay or rather, so sociopathic and uncaring of mankind that even the notion of gender is beneath him. Let the Right One In, as stated earlier, is a progressive film that tackles gender issues in a prejudiced world. This is shown in the ambiguity of Eli’s gender. Eli, although legitimately a male, looks, acts, and sounds like a female. A brief scene in which Eli changes into a dress offers a glimpse of a suggestive scar but no explicit elaboration, and when Oskar asks Eli to be his girlfriend, Eli affirms that he is not a girl, because even monsters have gender.

Harry Benshoff’s essay “The Monster and the Homosexual,” describes the notion of homosexuality as a destructive factor in society, as well as a harmful disease that threatens the individual. As a “monstrous condition,” homosexuality aims to destroy the very foundations of a thriving society. This idea is so extremely backward, but nonetheless true in the horror genre. Alfredson tackles the issue of this underdeveloped thinking by creating a romantic sub-plot to appease the commonwealth, all the while hiding the fact that this romance is between two males and indirectly telling the audience that, basically, “there’s nothing wrong with being gay.” An excerpt in the essay talks about how homosexuals are described as bestial, incestual, masochistic, and downright evil people, and though this may be the case for Eli, who is obviously the “monster queer”, this is not the case for the innocent albeit naïve Oskar.

Through Oskar, the world is opened to a new way of seeing homosexuality. It can even be said that, if we look past his naiveté, his very character points to a politically correct next generation. His naiveté, which borders on ignorance as exemplified in his relationship with a manipulative, immortal vampire, still allows him to say “yes” to his homosexual relationship with Eli. He cares not if Eli is a girl or boy, but is compelled to be with him and help him survive until the very end of his age. As bleack as Oskar’s future looks, his soul and intentions were verily pure. While he hides his macabre tendencies from the other characters in the film, he openly expresses his love for a boy which, in many parts of the world, is discouraged.

It is unfortunate for Oskar, as well as many of the audience, that their relationship will last only as long as Oskar is useful. They were really sweet together. Still, even after all the grim revelations and dark truths were unraveled, Let the Right One In remains as a beautiful filmic spectacle for those who appreciates the grislier side of life

I give it a 5/5.