The Ending of the “Let Me In” movie would have left you will some questions. We will try to answer those questions, but this is more than just that Ending. This movie has a much deeper meaning to it in many aspects, and I think we should also give importance to it and talk about it.
Let Me In came out in 2010 and was directed by Matt Reeves. It was a remake of a Swedish movie, Let The Right One In, written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, which was also based on a novel.
We will be doing the Let Me In Ending Explanation and will be looking at how Horror Romance is portrayed in the film adaptations of Let the Right One In and Let Me In. I will be talking about both movies so that we can get a better understanding of the theme and the meaning behind it.
Just as a side note, the main characters will be referred to as Oskar and Eli, unless I’m talking specifically about the American version, in which case, it would be Owen and Abby. The novel will be referenced to expand on the themes and motivations.
Let Me In Movie Explained
Writer John Ajvide Lindqvist has an attraction to monsters. When he envisioned writing Let the Right One In, he knew he wanted to portray part of his own childhood growing up in the early 80’s in Blackeberg. Lindqvist wanted to explore the interaction between the suburb, its inhabitants, and a monster.
Oskar, the young protagonist, was based on his own experiences. Just like in real life, the boy was mercilessly bullied. Oskar’s daily life horrors collided with horrors of another kind.
In the midst of his tribulations, he meets a strange new girl, Eli. She’s just moved into the apartment complex. She smells weird, dresses funny, and doesn’t feel cold. Unbeknownst to Oskar, Eli is not a girl. She’s a vampire.
Lindqvist was never a big fan of vampires, which explains why he doesn’t romanticize them or present them as they are often portrayed in popular culture. His refreshing take on the vampire myth eliminates many of the known tropes and genre expectations we’ve grown accustomed to and helps focus the story on the innocent yet unnatural budding romance between Oskar and Eli, a dark coming-of-age story.
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The Relationships In Let Me In
Oskar is in the process of starting adolescence and forming his identity, but he is doing so amidst external instability. The relationships that surround him are dysfunctional. He’s caught in the middle of his parent’s separation. His mother, who is physically present, is virtually non-existent. When they speak, she is often visually separated or blurred out, even while sitting at the same table.
We don’t get to see much of his father, (especially in Let Me In), but from what we gather; the father isn’t really listening or responding to Oskar’s needs and fears. And on top of that, he’s ruthlessly getting harassed at school. It is because of this humiliation and embarrassment that both film adaptation directors were drawn to the subject matter. They saw themselves in the tortured Oskar.
The shallow depth of field the character is stuck in represents the isolation he is experiencing. The feeling of being unnoticed. At a crucial moment in his life, Oskar has no one to turn to for support until he meets the mysterious Eli.
On her side, Eli also feels unsupported and alone. She’s been trapped in the body and mentality of a child for an unknown amount of years. Due to her nature, she needs to feed to survive; a hardship she’s been sharing with her companion.
Relationship Between Eli And Her Father?
Initially, one would think that he’s her father, but as the film progresses, that assumption changes because he’s more like her familiar. In Let Me In, it’s hinted that the man met Abby when he was a child. He stayed with her out of love. Over the years, his body aged while his mentality was stunted, mirroring her inability to grow old. He’s devoted his whole existence to her, but recently, he’s failed in his attempts to feed Abby.
At this point, we can sense bitterness and resentment in their interactions. They’re like an old married couple that has already said everything that needed to be said…the relationship has run its course.
Oskar And Eli’s Relationship
Oskar and Eli’s short encounters at the playground become a welcomed change. It’s even the first time the protagonist makes direct eye contact with another character in the movie. They each see the other as what has been missing from their respective lives. Eli is the connection Oskar has been longing for, and Oskar is the innocence and childhood Eli hasn’t experienced in years.
There is an immediate phonic contrast to the term horror romance, and it’s one that keeps being interpreted visually and thematically in both adaptations. The black night is in opposition to the bright snow. The child’s sled was used to carry a murdered body. The white landscape is defiled by blood. Childhood innocence is corrupted by monstrosities or violence.
The backdrop of Eli and Oskar’s growing relationship is a frozen playground. A symbol of a stunted childhood. A possible omen for Oskar. Even the two adaptations are in contrast with each other with their representations of good and evil.
In Let Me In, we see religious undertones mark the cultural differences between both story settings. This aspect is a point of inner turmoil for Owen and makes him more conflicted with Abby’s vampiric nature, leading to a choice near the end.
The Nuanced Approach Of Let The Right One
Let the Right One In has a bit more of a nuanced approach. There is no clear-cut dissection of good and evil. In the story, the characters aren’t described as completely back or white. Everyone is shown as having the potential for both good and bad. They have qualities that can be admirable and harbor monstrous elements as well.
This ambiguous and slightly undefined state is part of the duality that can even be seen in Eli’s identity (a predator but also a victim). If you’ve read the novel, you know that Eli was originally a boy named Elias. He was castrated before he was turned. He never got a chance to grow up and experience puberty.
Eli doesn’t identify as male or female but doesn’t correct people when they assume he’s a girl. Eli uses that to her advantage when hunting. Eli’s physical state is a representation of the character’s inner conflicts. Eli can be good, bad, both, and none at the same time. She embodies the contrast. It’s also part of what attracted her to Oskar. She sees the pent-up anger growing inside of him.
On the other hand, Oskar sees Eli as the embodiment of the darkness he wishes he could explore. Just like the Rubik’s cube, they are different parts of a puzzle. Abby is a version of Owen, but a version unleashed. This could be seen as a representation of a person coming to terms with their inner duality.
The Real And To Be Monsters
Lindqvist has an interesting approach to monsters. He explores their nature by weighing the difference between a creature’s instinct and a person’s willful actions. Eli does possess the elements we suppose a monster should have but she is mostly presented as a burdened creature following her instincts. Cursed to act out her need to survive.
This can also be paralleled to another Lindqvist character in the adaptation of Border, where the main protagonist is a troll, but her being a mythical creature doesn’t make her a monster. Instead, the examples of monsters in the story are humans committing disturbing acts.
In Let the Right One In, we see different types of monsters and their distorted expressions of love. In the novel, we know that Håkan is a pedophile. If that’s not horrific on its own, add the fact that he’s also a serial killer.
It’s his love for Eli that drives him to hunt for her. He places his life in harm’s way so that she can survive. He even disfigures himself so that nothing can be traced back to Eli. Before falling from the hospital window, he lets Eli drink his blood, trading his life for hers.
Jimmy is a bully far worse than his younger brother. Either out of pride or love, he’s willing to kill Oskar in retribution for what was done to Conny’s ear.
When we meet Oskar’s father, we see that he loves his son and loves to spend time with him. The problem is that he’s an alcoholic, which renders him irresponsible towards his son, causing Oskar to run away.
In the novel, Oskar even goes as far as describing him as a werewolf and that when having to choose between monsters, he chooses Eli. Oskar hasn’t done anything that would make him a monster, but he wishes he was. He has fantasies of murdering his bullies. He has a morbid curiosity towards serial killers and keeps their newspaper clippings.
Let Me In Ending Explained
When the detective finds Abby sleeping in the bathtub, Owen provides the necessary distraction for Abby to wake up and attack him. Here, we see Owen struggling with the decision of closing the door on the vampire’s victim…making a hard but definitive choice to help and follow Abby, accepting her dark nature.
However, with Oskar, that same scene is played differently. One is less emotional and based on survival, while the other is really a choice between their perspective of good and evil.
In the end, he follows Eli, meaning he will become her new familiar, fetching lives for her to feast on. The familiar and vampire relationship can be seen as a distortion of the expression of love. For the vampire, it is of vulnerability. To accept someone’s help and trust them. For the familiar, it’s about self-sacrifice and protection. It is of mutual benefit.
Ultimately, for Oskar, that meaning takes a negative turn…he does give his life away, along with his innocence, his youth, and his humanity. A dark romance As the author put it (in any relationship): you invite what might destroy you or save you. So, let the right one in…
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