Review: Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In)

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Genre: Drama (Foreign-Language)

Who knew a character study (of the dichotomy of savagery from nobility) and metaphysical study (of what is right), manifested as a vampiric love-story between children in Norway, could be so intensely provocative?
Låt den Rätte Komma In succeeds where other films do not, in this world of precise improbability, because of the intensely honest way it not only portrays its elements but also conveys that sincerity. Wide open shots, clean color palettes, and clear unembellished dialogue prevent the nuances of the story from being lost in contrived complexities (e. g., grafts pigeon-holing the work in the 'thriller' genre), complexities that would only have clotted the film's steady, undiluted flow and distracted the viewer from its point: the lingering question about what is right done in the name of a friend and what is right done in general and, furthermore, whether those two notions be principally compatible. As the film quite correctly fails to reach an absolute resolution to any of these questions yet at the same time manages to craft a tender and devoted emotional story, it is a wonderful surprise success.

Grade: A-