Let Me In, a remake of the Swedish film Let The Right One In, is just as dark, cold, and romantic as the original. I really enjoyed Let The Right One In when it came out in 2008. It was so different from any other vampire film. It is a quiet but haunting film, and I did not think director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) would be able to re-create that but I was wrong. He knew what worked in the original and he respected the material enough to keep some of the exact dialogue and most of the scenes. There are a few changes but it only makes Let Me In better and more captivating.
Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee from The Road) is a 12 year-old boy whose parents are going through a nasty divorce. We never see his father and we can tell his mother likes to drink quite a bit. He spends most of his time alone at home and when he is at school, he is getting bullied and tormented. Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz from Kick-Ass), a 12 year-old girl, moves in next door with her “father” (Richard Jenkins) and she takes a liking to Owen as he does for her. But Abby is not your average 12 year-old girl. She has been a 12 years-old for a very, very long time.
Owen begins to notice things about Abby and has suspicion about her “father.” Abby does not get cold and never wears shoes. He hears noises and yelling through the walls at night. What Owen soon finds out and what we already know is Abby is a vampire. Blood is her addiction and she craves it. She needs it.
What Let Me In does is show you a life of a vampire that we never see on-screen. A child being a vampire who desperately wants a friend and Owen could use one as well. Their loneliness brings them closer together. It is not about gore and violence (neither though there is some in the movie), but a friendship that should have never been made and never existed. Let Me In shows the loss of innocence.
Director Reeves went from a monster movie to a sweet, frightening young romance between a boy and a vampire. There are some scary scenes, but most of the film is chilling not so much as scary. Most of the film takes place at night and you can just feel the coldness in the air. The only light you see comes from the glow of lamp posts. Reeves may have “Americanized” this film but he did not water it down or make it something it is not.
Let Me In would not be as masterful as it is without the incredible performances by Moretz, Smit-McPhee, and Jenkins. Jenkins plays Abby’s guardian and we find out how these two met and let’s just say he is a dedicated man. He loves Abby and is willing to kill for her so she can get what she needs: blood. The scenes where he is hiding in the back of cars waiting for the victim to come back is eerie and almost terrifying. But it is all taking its toll on him. He is becoming tired and sloppy at what he is supposed to do. Jenkins is a gifted actor who has a story to tell through this character. He is just as important as Abby and Owen.
Smit-McPhee was excellent in The Road with Viggo Mortensen. But now he stands alone as Owen, who is an outcast like Abby, and wants to escape from the life he lives. And Abby is his escape. He is curious but also he simply likes her. Girlfriend or just a friend, there is a bond between the two.
Moretz was kicking ass just six months ago and what a different, complex role she stepped in to by playing Abby. A quiet, secretive girl who is not really a girl at all. She knows she cannot be involved with Owen but she cannot help it. There is a connection between the two and she cannot stop herself from helping and opening up to him. The relationship between Owen and Abby is the heart of this film, and McPhee and Moretz capture the spirit and emotion of being disconnected from the world and relying on each other to get through it.
Let Me In will make the viewers of the original happy and for those who did not see Let The Right One In, you will enjoy for the first time a well-crafted, intelligent film about children with one who just happens to be a vampire. There is no room for a Twilight movie in Owen and Abby’s world.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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