Let the Right One In (2008) with Joshua Conkel

When we meet Oskar, it’s 1982 and he’s a meek 12-year-old with a shameful blonde pageboy haircut.  His parents are divorced, making for a lonely existence on a nondescript housing estate in a suburb of Stockholm.  On top of this, local bully Conny’s been taunting him at school, his jabs becoming increasingly violent.  Meanwhile, people are dying in Oskar’s neighborhood, especially around his apartment complex.  Could it have something to do with the middle-age man and 12 year old girl that just moved into the building, the ones that placed cardboard on their windows, seemingly to shield them from the outside world?  Why one night does that man subdue and hang a pedestrian upside down, slitting his throat until hid blood drains into a funnel?  That’s when Oskar meets Eli, the girl next door, and takes a liking to her when she solves his Rubik’s cube.  But Eli’s smarts don’t come from school – she’s been around a while, you see – and she may not even be a she at all.  What transpires when Oskar and Eli become friends, and what happens when others in town catch on to Eli’s nocturnal habits, are only the beginning of this icy but romantic coming of age drama.

Intro, Math Club, and Debate Society (spoiler-free) 00:00-26:58
Honor Roll and Detention (spoiler-heavy) 26:59-55:57
Superlatives (spoiler-heavier) 55:58-1:17:12

Director Tomas Alfredson
Screenplay John Ajvide Lindqvist
Featuring Peter Carlberg, Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Ika Nord, Per Ragnar, Patrik Rydmark

Joshua Conkel is a Los Angeles based writer, filmmaker, and podcaster. His short film, He Watches, is in festivals now, and he is the co-host of Bloodhaus, a weekly arthouse horror comedy podcast.

Our theme music is by Sir Cubworth, with embellishments by Edward Elgar.  Music from “Let the Right One In” by Johan Söderqvist.

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