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Let the Right One In (LÄt den rÀtte komma in)

2008 · 114 min · movie
⭐ 7.8 (240,495 votes)

Oskar resides with his mother in the Swedish suburb of Blackeberg in 1982. His classmates bully him, and he spends his evenings imagining revenge. One evening, he meets Eli, who appears to be a girl his age. Eli has moved into the adjoining apartment with a man, HÄkan. Eli informs Oskar that they cannot be friends, but the two begin exchanging coded messages through their shared wall. Eli learns that Oskar is being bullied by schoolmates and encourages him to stand up for himself. Oskar then enrolls in exercise classes after school.

HÄkan kills a person on a footpath to harvest blood for Eli, but is interrupted by a passerby. Eli is prompted to waylay and kill a man, Jocke. A recluse witnesses the attack from his flat but doesn't report the incident. HÄkan hides Jocke's body in a hole in the lake. HÄkan makes another effort to obtain blood for Eli by trapping a boy in a room after school. When he is unsuccessful, HÄkan pours acid onto his own face to avoid identification. Eli visits HÄkan in the hospital, where he offers his own neck for feeding. Eli drains him of his blood, and HÄkan falls out the window. Eli goes to Oskar's apartment and spends the night with him, during which they agree to "go steady", though Eli states, "I'm not a girl".

While on a field trip, the bullies again harass Oskar, who this time hits their leader in the head with a pole, injuring him. On that same trip, some of Oskar's classmates discover Jocke's body. Oskar suggests that he and Eli form a bond and cuts his hand. Eli laps up his blood then runs away. Jocke's friend Lacke has a fight with his girlfriend Virginia, and afterward Eli attacks her. She survives but discovers that she has become sensitive to sunlight. Oskar confronts Eli, who admits to being a vampire. Oskar is upset by Eli's need to kill people for survival. Eli insists that they are alike, in that Oskar wants to kill and Eli needs to kill, and encourages him to "be me, for a little while."

While in the hospital, Virginia asks an orderly to open the blinds in her room, and bursts into flames, committing suicide. Lacke sets out to kill Eli, whom he finds asleep in the apartment's bathtub. Oskar intervenes, and Eli wakes up and feeds on Lacke's blood. Afterward, Eli thanks Oskar and kisses him. Fearing that they've attracted too much attention from the neighbors, Eli decides that it isn't safe to stay and leaves that night.

Oskar is lured out to resume the program at the pool. One of the bullies holds Oskar under the water. Eli arrives and rescues him by killing and dismembering the bullies, except for one, who is left sobbing on a bench.

Oskar is seen travelling on a train, with Eli in a box beside him. Eli taps the code for "kiss" to Oskar, who responds the same.

Directed by

Tomas Alfredson

Starring

KÄre Hedebrant
Lina Leandersson
Per Ragnar
Peter Carlberg
Ika Nord
Mikael Rahm
Pale Olofsson