The Natt, Blood, and Bullerbyn

I was sittin’ in a little café in Stockholm with a kanelbulle in my hand when I first heard about “Låt Den Rätte Komma In.” It was 2008, and the city was buzzing about this peculiar vampire film that was not your typical Hollywood bloodsucker flick. Directed by Tomas Alfredson, whom I admired for that fantastic “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” it stars the phenomenal young actors Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson—it was a fresh breath in Swedish cinema. You know, Swedish movies have this certain knack for wrapping the ordinary in the extraordinary, like wrapping köttbullar in lingonberry sauce. It’s weird, yet brilliant.

The movie’s atmosphere pulls you right in. It’s winter in Blackeberg—a suburb that probably most of us Swedes would compare to a forgotten corner of Bullerbyn. Snow crunches underfoot and icy breaths linger in the air, bringing memories of long, cold Swedish nights when all you wanted was to burrow under layers of blankets. And then there’s this disturbing juxtaposition of childhood innocence and horrific violence that’s strangely captivating.

Now, the story between Oskar and Eli is something else. It’s tender, yet unsettling, and it got me thinking about those moments in life when you’re just trying to find your place…or find the right person who’ll accept you, vampire or not. But, hang me if I didn’t feel a twinge of discomfort with the film’s slow pacing at times. It was like being offered surströmming when you’re expecting köttbullar. I felt a bit cheated but then was won over by its eerie charm again.

From Oskar’s shy cunning to Eli’s fierce loyalty, this movie captures what it means to live on the fringes—be it of society or humanity itself. Go see it and reminisce about your own teenage existential crises. Weird, cold, exceptionally Swedish—what more could you ask for?

Check the trailer below