Fridae

The must-see movie of the week is a Swedish vampire romance between a 12-year-old boy and an undead girl. Doesn't that spell "must-see" already?

A critical and commercial hit in its home country, Let The Right One In tells a deliciously dark tale in a cold and conservative Swedish suburb in the 80s. Here we find 12-year-old Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) who lives with his single mother. Oskar is extremely shy and lonely, and he is often the target of school bullies.

He falls in love with another shy youngster Eli (Lina Leandersson) who is also 12, "more or less". But he soon realises that she is not like any other girl. She is black haired, doesn't go to school and walks barefoot in the snow. More significantly, she's biologically dead but can remain undead if she feeds on the blood of other people.

How do you love a vampire who kills people, but who also happens to be your only friend in the world?

Directed by Tomas Alfredson, Let The Right One In is elegantly macabre yet moving, genuinely scary yet also sweet. The script by John Ajvide Lindqvist is exceptionally fine. And the performances by the child actors are simply heartbreaking.

Hollywood has already acquired the rights to remake it in English. But with the exception of Quarantine (remade from [REC]) and The Ring (remade from Ringu), we can't recall any good adaptation of a non-American horror hit. Don't miss this moody masterpiece.

If you're going to watch to just one Oscar nominee this year, let it be Slumdog Millionaire. (If two, then catch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button too.)