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Let Me In Movie Review

Let Me In is a 2010 romantic horror film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee. It’s a very unnecessary, but competent remake.

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“You have to invite me in“

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Owen leads a lonely life and is bullied by his peers at school. He happily befriends Abby, his new helpful neighbor, without being aware that she is hiding a secret from him. This is an American remake of the 2008 Swedish movie that was based on the titular book by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Matt Reeves is a phenomenal director and this was his sophomore effort basically. He did a great job, showing amazing promise early on in his career.

The film is very well directed, paced, edited and shot. The movie has that dark atmosphere, mature storytelling and an extra emphasis on the themes of sexuality and bullying. The original film had those themes too, but this one focuses even more on them. The ending is as emotional as you’d expect and the story is very touching as a whole.

With that being said, I did not understand the point in making this movie in the first place. I don’t like Americans remaking amazing and/or famous international properties. I am not fond of that idea and I find it wrong on so many levels. This remake could never escape the clutches of the original even though it was clearly competently made and surprisingly faithful to the spirit of said film.

There simply weren’t enough changes here to differentiate it from its predecessor. If an audience member has never watched the original, he or she would find this one much better. But if the opposite is true for you, then this one will feel redundant as it felt to me.

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Let Me In does benefit from two terrific turns from its capable young stars. Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee were still in the early years of their careers when this film was released and they both showed instant likability and evident acting talent. Their dynamic here is top-notch and the movie is at its best when it’s just focused on the two talking.

Matt Reeves’ Let Me In is a competently made remake across the board. Chloe Grace Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee make for memorable, excellent leads. The cinematography, themes and the overall atmosphere of the movie really worked. However, this is still an overly faithful story to the original Swedish film, making the entire affair seem rather redundant in the process.

My Rating – 3.5