Tribeca - Let the Right One In
It was not an intentional pairing, but this film provided an immediate and marked comparison to Charly. Like the previous film, Let the Right One In explores the relationship between two children, except it excels in every area that Charly crapped the bed in. This film features a 12-year-old Swedish boy and the 12-year-old girl who moves in next door. The motivating force behind the plot is that the 12-year-old girl is actually a vampire and is much older in actuality than she appears. There is also the slightly inconvenient fact that she needs to kill and consume the blood of a human every two to three days to survive.
The film spends very little time actually dealing with the rules of vampirism: the assumption is made that audience members have at least a passing familiarity with the traditional lore. The movie instead focuses around the evolving relationship of the two characters. The young boy finding someone to be friends with, despite his isolation at school and at home, and the vampire being drawn into a friendship with him despite her obvious reluctance.
The most interesting aspect of the film comes from the character of the vampire, who is simultaneously both a child and an adult. She is able to both be the young boy’s friend, but also his mentor and protector. Her presences obviates the need for adults in the movie, while still allowing the film to explore both branches of their relationship. The young actress that plays the vampire is fantastic (much better than Interview with a Vampire Kirsten Dunst) at capturing both facets of her character and believably moving between them. The film does not work anywhere near as well if she cannot be realistically seen as both an innocent child and a ruthless adult, so credit has to go to her and the filmmakers for making it work. Clearly a five out of five.
As a side note, I’ve really enjoyed the films that use horror tropes as metaphors for adulthood. Ginger Snaps, the Canadian werewolf movie is an obvious example, and Let the Right One In is another that succeeds. I think it is the horror we all associate with the loss of childhood innocence that makes the connection so powerful and successful.