if you only see one swedish coming-of-age vampire love story this year…

wait, let me start that again.

if you only see one swedish film this year, one coming-of-age film this year, one vampire film this year or, for that matter, one quirky goth pre-teen love story, all of them should be let the right one in.

oskar is a twelve year-old loner in a grim, working-class swedish suburb.  bullied at school and overlooked by his divorced parents, oskar is equal parts repressed anger and aching loneliness - until eli, an odd, pale girl, moves in next door.

i saw this minor-key masterpiece a few months back and its profound melancholy still lingers, despite of (or perhaps thanks to) its odd contradictions. tender yet brutal. lyrically beautiful yet still eager to shock with gross-out special effects.

let the right one in is, hands down, the best vampire film i’ve seen since claire denis’ truly disturbing trouble every day. and is, along with the first half of wall-e, on the short list for my favorite film of the year.

it’s playing around these parts at the laemmle sunset 5, and back in my old stomping ground at the angelika film center. go see it.