In Matt Reeves’ Let Me In, a remake of Let the Right One In by Tomas Alfredson, lonely 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) unexpectedly falls in love with his mysterious new neighbor, Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), who is also 12 years old. Abby turns out to be a vampire who, because of her caretaker Thomas’ failures, has begun to leave a trail of bodies. A detective (Elias Kotas) investigates the murders and eventually has a bloody confrontation with Abby, who is aided by Owen. When Abby and Owen first meet, there is nothing between them but happenstance.
Owen begins to fall in love with Abby after she solves his Rubik’s Cube and gives him advice on how to deal with the psychotic bullies who terrorize him at school. Owen continues to love Abby even after he realizes that she is a vampire, and she seems to love him back. One night, Owen sleeps at her apartment. The next morning, the detective breaks in and finds Abby asleep. He is distracted when Owen startles him, giving Abby the chance to wake up and feed on him.
Early on in the film, Abby’s caretaker, Thomas (Richard Jenkins, Cabin in the Woods), sacrifices his life for her after his repeated failures. Without him, she is extremely vulnerable. She must now find a new caretaker, a role for which Owen seems perfect. Abby is seemingly unwilling to involve Owen in her criminal lifestyle and leaves him after killing the detective. However, he has already helped her to cover up the detective’s murder, the first step toward the symbiotic relationship that Abby needs to survive and that will require Owen to live a life of crime.
What Happens At The End Of Let Me In
After Abby leaves Owen, he is attacked again by his bullies, who threaten to cut his eye out and nearly drown him in the school swimming pool. Abby returns to help him one last time and kills the bullies in a literal blood bath. Abby lifts Owen’s head up off the swimming room floor, and he looks up at her in a mixture of relief and awe.
The next day, Owen is riding a train, sitting with a large trunk in front of him. The train’s conductor stamps his ticket and asks if the trunk is his, and he says it is. Once the conductor leaves, a tapping can be heard coming from within the trunk. The tapping is Morse code, which Owen had taught Abby earlier. He taps out an answer, and goes back to singing the jingle for Now and Later, his favorite candy. This ending shows that Owen is now responsible for Abby, that their friendship has continued, morphing into a role where Owen is not only her friend, but her caretaker. As referenced by earlier events in Let Me In, this relationship can be for better or worse.
The Real Meaning Behind Let Me In
The real meaning behind Let Me In is the familiar concept that there is a thin line between good and evil, as there are in many vampire movies. Extreme loneliness and neglect led Owen to question the difference between the two. He was abused at school and neglected at home, which fueled his anger and opened him up to the influence of Abby. At first, he struggles with his choice between Abby’s complicated friendship and desperate loneliness. By the film’s end, however, he is content with his decision to be with Abby and commit evil acts rather than be alone and do good.
Abby’s struggle with the inherent maliciousness of her lifestyle is apparent throughout the film, but is best exemplified in her decision to leave Owen. She is forced to live as a murderer because she is a vampire. She must be evil and live or be good and die. Involving Owen in her evil and criminal life is a decision that she still has control over. At the end of Let Me In, however, she doesn’t have to take responsibility for bringing Owen into a life of crime. He makes that decision for himself.