Full Movie Analysis

Let Me In (2010)

‘Let Me In’ (2010) is a supernatural horror film about the tragic life of a vampire, as this is a supernatural film the audience would suspect some kind of supernatural being or entity – this is portrayed by the vampire called ‘Abby’.  The movie was heavily based off of a Swedish film and the audience who had seen that film may have a general idea of the movie plot, while others would generalise it to be a vampire movie about a 12 year old girl meeting a young human boy. 

The film followed the traditional narrative structure, firstly by establishing the norm in the plot and setting – this being Abby moving into a new neighbourhood with her ‘father’ and meeting Oskar the boy who lives next door who gets bullied at school.  The rising action being Oskar and his bully having an argument at school, the bully then gets physical; this creates an antagonist in the film.  The climax of the film for Abby is her ‘Father’s’ death being explained (you saw him die at the beginning of the film), this means that she now lives alone and there is no one to look after her or provide for her.  Oskar’s climax however comes into place after Abby told him to fight back to the bully and when he does he hits him over the head with a large stick and cuts his ear open while the class are playing hockey on a frozen lake.  The falling action being the bully and his friends locking the teacher out of the school while the class are swimming and they try to drown Oskar, at this point Abby should’ve left as she claimed to be too dangerous but still she comes to the rescue – killing the bullies in the pool they planned to drown the protagonist in.  Finally the resolution is Oskar leaving with Abby and essentially becoming her new keeper to help her feed – the movie ends on a good note and also follows Tzvetan Todorov’s media theory of differing equilibrium. 

The setting of the film is a snowbound apartment complex, this links into the film quite thoroughly as Abby doesn’t get cold, therefore she never wears shoes even when it’s snowing outside to emphasise this fact.  The snow relates into many themes – such as the ice hockey scene later in the movie which was a crucial part, body frozen in the lake and the meeting point being the docile playground blanketed in snow – the amount of snow explain the reasoning no other children would be around.   Other than the setting I believe that the snow had more reasoning such as the cold weather and dark colouring implying the loneliness of Oskar and Abby and enforcing the horror genre of the film. 

The iconography in the film varies, such as the lighting being very dim and almost always ambient or natural, implying a darker theme within the film and almost as if there’s a secret being sealed in the film.  This also enforces the genre very well.  The main props used also vary, such as the large stick Oskar used to hit his bully, a record player, fake blood and Abby’s crate of memories – photos, puzzles etc.  To enforce the genre the movie includes a lot of red and black, to show the evil and darkness and the blood in the film.  Abby is almost always wearing a dark hood at the beginning of the movie – implying she’s hiding something dark, again never wearing shoes.  Later into the movie she is seen wearing a white dress – this is controversial as she is ‘evil’ but later stains the white dress with blood, showing that evil overrules the innocence of childhood.  Oskar however is almost always in a jumper – emphasising the cold weather and how Abby doesn’t feel it at all, if he is not he is wearing a big puffy jacket.  He is also wearing darker colours – such as blue or grey; this shows how lonely he is and how sad his life is.  The actors are very fitting for the film, the caretaker of Abby being an old man, Oskar being a 12 year old boy who is very small for his age and Abby who is also 12 in body form.  By being played by an innocent appearing actress the role of Abby is reinforced and shows the tragic life of being a vampire, helping to make the audience root for Abby as much as they would for Oskar.  The make-up is also a big part of the film as Abby’s eyes change colour when she turns into a vampire, also the fake blood on her face and on the victim’s bodies helps to reinforce the horror genre. 

The character types vary, the protagonist is Oskar (Princess), while his bullies are the antagonists (villains), and Abby’s caretaker was the donor who would provide for her and also the father and the dispatcher.  In Vladimir Propp’s theory Abby would be the hero, as she later saves Oskar.  The false hero would probably be Oskar as many would assume he helps Abby but it is in fact the other way round.  The use of Vladimir Propp’s theory shows that most stories have a specific role system. 

The binary opposition in this film is good vs. evil, which is traditional in the horror genre, this also links into Claude Levi-Strauss/ Roland Barthes’ theory of narrative structure.  This can be applied to most horror films as it also covers known/unknown and normal/strange. 

Gender representation is prominent in this film; the protagonist Oskar is protected and weak.  Stereotypically a male would be stronger, this challenges gender roles intensely.  Abby’s role within the film is strange as she is perfectly capable of defending herself and others but instead has carers who kill for her and risk their lives on a daily basis to protect her.  This doesn’t directly challenge gender roles but typically does go against them.  As she is very young that could explain why she would need a carer and can not look after herself as she never grew up properly and always had sympathy from others.  Her carer is typically expressing gender roles, he is the one who kills, defends the child and shows bravery, he in no way challenging society’s gender roles.  Other characters who do not challenge gender roles are the bullies who are all male and a lot taller, males typically would be bullies in the eyes of society and are seen as ‘manly and strong’.  Oskar’s mother challenged the gender roles as she is a known alcoholic when woman are typically polite and quiet. 

The narrative places the audience on the side of Abby and Oskar, the empathy of the tragic life of a vampire and her age/ innocence makes it easy to love her character.  Oskar on the other hand is rooted for throughout the film as you want him to stick up to bullies and stand up for himself.