There are movies that are technically superior, that film students pore over and discuss countless times in lectures and among themselves, talking about how they hope to emulate the camera angles, editing, and pacing. And then there are movies that are not technically perfect by a long shot, but you can’t help but fall in love with nonetheless, watch repeatedly again and again and dwell on for weeks. The kind of movies that you show to your friends only for them to ridicule and balk at you for having such a childish and unhealthy obsession over, so you are forced to retreat to the dark recesses of the internet that are occupied by internet forums and their users, perusing poorly-written fan fictions, simply wasting away in your room and shunning the harsh sunshine, because GODDAMMIT YOU JUST CAN’T HELP IT.
Whew. I have had the fortune of watching such a movie a few weeks back. It’s called ‘Let Me in’. Now before any of you highbrow cinephiles tut-tut me for not knowing that it’s a remake of the Swedish movie ‘Let the Right One in’ and its source material; a novel with the same title, see, I’ve just proven that I know them and I’ve watched the original movie. It’s just that I watched LMI before I watched LTROI. Let’s just get that out of the way. No need to be so condescending, sheesh.
Anyway the movie tells about Owen, a lonely, neglected and bullied boy who strikes up a friendship with a girl; Abby (Chloe Moretz) who moves in next to his apartment with her father. Meanwhile, the residents of his town are getting murdered by what is thought to be a satanic cult by the local detective. After awhile, he senses that Abby might not be as innocent and vulnerable as she appears and all the murders might be connected to the reclusive father and daughter, despite their blossoming attraction to each other.
Coming back to my obsession with this movie. It’s funny how I only watched this movie because I couldn’t sleep one night and decided to go downstairs to watch TV, thinking that maybe a few minutes of mundane off-peak hours TV might put me to sleep. ‘Let Me in’ was just starting and before I knew it, I had watched it until the end, not feeling even a wee bit sleepy despite the movie’s slow pacing. At first I simply thought it was good and went straight to bed, but after awhile I found myself strangely wanting to watch it again and I did so repeatedly the following week. I simply lapped up every scene the two young leads are together in, and boy they are simply good together.
Kodi Smit-McPhee who plays Owen; gives a solid performance as the friendless latchkey twelve-year old who is shut in in his own world and occasionally engaging in casual voyeurism and eavesdropping. But the true star of ‘Let Me in’ is definitely Chloe Moretz; the child star of movies such as ‘500 Days of Summer’ and ‘Kick-Ass’. She was good in these two movies, but in LMI she’s simply brilliant, and her performance is something I’ve never seen in a child actor since the young Natalie Portman’s turn in Luc Besson’s ‘Leon’. She successfully toes the fine line between the role of the vulnerable, lonely pre-adolescent girl who finds love yet is cautious of it; and the ferocity of her character’s darker side (can’t tell too much. Go watch it!). She reminds you of that one girl when you were a kid, whom you were madly in love with it, the girl who might probably have simply ignored you depending on how you were as a child; and watching Chloe in LMI will make you think “This must be how it would’ve been if she had liked me back” Boo hoo. The supporting cast must also be commended for their refrained yet nuanced performances; especially those of Abby’s father and the local detective investigating the series of murders.
However this is not to say that the movie does not benefit from other aspects. It definitely benefits from its gloominess and isolation (one thing that separates it from the slightly brighter original version), thanks to the snowy setting and the scenes that mostly take place during the night, and the slow pacing definitely amplifies the isolation felt by the characters that you yourself can almost taste said loneliness. The director; Matt Reeves (‘Cloverfield’) deserves praises for adapting this movie well by sticking close to the original because it works. Some critics have stated their displeasure at his decision to almost copy scene-by-scene the original movie, but this non-professional critic disagrees. It’s better to come up with an accurate copy of a good piece of art than to modify the original work only for the remake to fall flat, don’t you think so? And to be fair, when you really watch it; you’ll find out that LMI is markedly different from LTROI; especially when it comes to Abby and Owen’s characters. It’s good to know that Reeves is equally adept at directing a slow, character-driven genre-bending movie, as he is making a loud summer blockbuster monster movie.
And finally from me, what also makes this movie truly good is that how little is provided to the audience in way of explanation of the characters’ back story and the ending. Yes, the ending. If you view it objectively, you’ll realise just how dreadful the fate that awaits Abby and Owen is, despite the tenderness with which the final scene is shot. This movie leaves a lot of room for discussions, or if you’re the type who keeps to yourself; you can fill in the gaps in the movie with your imagination.
That is all from me for now. I have an internet forum to descend back into.
The GOOD:
1) Chloe Moretz’ performance specifically, and the acting in general. I hope she gets more mature roles in the future. The one to watch in the coming years
2) The mood of the movie as brought about by the sparse lighting, set design and the music. Instant melancholy
The BAD:
- May cause temporary yet intense melancholy, the desire to keep re-watching it and the unwillingness to exit your room and get stuff done
My VERDICT: it’s hard for me to be objective in rating this movie while I’m unhealthily obsessed with it at the moment. So what I’ll do for now is give it an 8/10 and come back in the future to revise this rating with a more objective eye. Fair enough?
TRIVIA:
1) The car-crash scene, despite playing out as a single shot in the movie, is actually composed of different shots that are then CGI-ed and seamlessly edited together. Source
2) Ariel Winter who plays Alex in the TV series Modern Family, also auditioned for the role of Abby. Source
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