Let Me InMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Let Me In"

Gifts + Promos

Fandango Gift Card

Give the gift of movies with Fandango Bucks Gift Certificates! Design your own gift card, or choose from our collection.

Rock of Ages GWP

Buy Rock of Ages tickets to any Regal Theater Showing & receive a FREE song download!

Madagascar 3 Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a wild family getaway to San Diego!

Need Help?
Go
Avg. Critic Score: 79 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    Key to the remake's ultimate success is the casting of the troubled young leads.Smit-McPhee and Moretz possess the soulful depth and pre-adolescent vulnerability necessary to keep it compellingly real. Read full review

  • 100
    Variety |

    "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves hasn't ruined the elegant Swedish vampire story by remaking it. If anything, he's made some improvements, including the addition of a tense action-horror sequence in the middle of the film. Read full review

  • 90
    Salon.com | Andrew O'Hehir

    An imaginative and largely intact retelling of this gory, troubling, uniquely sweet and uniquely dark vampire tale. Read full review

  • 90
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    The subtext of the relationship is not sexuality, as it is in "Twilight" or "True Blood," but rather the loneliness of children and their often unrecognized reservoirs of rage. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Scott Bowles

    Let Me In is going to lure and please fans of the original; like the first, the remake is graphically violent but as tense as good horror gets. Read full review

  • 88
    Orlando Sentinel | Roger Moore

    Reeves has Americanized a very good foreign film without defanging it. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Those hoping to see a "vampire movie" will be surprised by a good film. Read full review

  • 83
    St. Petersburg Times | Steve Persall

    This is how a romantic vampire flick should work. Read full review

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The surprise of Let Me In is that director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) hasn't just remade the Swedish cult vampire film "Let the Right One In" into a more fluid and visceral movie. He's made it more dangerous. Read full review

  • 50
    Village Voice | Nick Pinkerton

    There's a human tragedy somewhere here-but aggrandized puppy-love romance and stylish revenge fantasy is all that lingers. Read full review

View more reviews for Let Me In on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Vampire remake is much gorier than Twilight.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Let Me In is a very gory remake of the 2008 Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In. It has similarly somber mood, more blood, and a bit less mystery. Both movies include some fairly controversial elements -- such as a 12-year-old girl disrobing (nothing is shown) and climbing into bed with a 12-year-old boy (nothing happens). There's also teen bullying and smoking, strong language (including "f--k" and "s--t"), and many disturbing and frightening images (lots of which are soaked in gushing blood). Teens who are looking for something weightier than what the Twilight saga has to offer will appreciate the strong characters and performances, but it's not age-appropriate for younger viewers -- or anyone with a low tolerance for gore.
  • Families can talk about the film's violence and blood and gore. How did it affect you?
  • Is fighting back a good way to deal with bullies? Did Owen's actions help his situation? What are some other ways of dealing with bullies?
  • Owen clearly needed someone to reach out to, but is Abby the right choice? Who else could he have reached out to?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Main character Owen is an awkward kid who's dealing with life in a miserable little town, an absent dad, and a mother who's a distant religious fanatic. Bullies threaten him at school, and he has no friends until he meets a vampire girl about his age. It's nice that Owen finally connects with someone, but needless to say, theirs is a rather unhealthy relationship. Their behavior together is often irresponsible -- it includes lying, too much sexual tension for such a young age, revenge, and running away. And the girl actually kills several people with no consequences.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Owen is a quiet misfit who can't quite connect to anyone until he makes friends with vampire Abby. Unfortunately, she's the wrong kind of influence, so neither of their characters can be seen as a positive role model. The adults in the movie don't fare much better; most of them seem miserable, trapped by their sorry fates, and unable to connect with the children in a meaningful way.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Bloody attacks, sucking of blood, gushing blood, neck snapping, strangling, disposal of dead bodies, thumb slicing, suicide, a face burned with acid, scary vampire images, bodies bursting into flame, and attempted drowning. There's a car accident that's shown from inside the car. A 12-year-old boy plays with a kitchen knife. Also severe and violent bullying among the middle schoolers; the hero fights back by hitting a bully in the side of the head with a large stick. In one death scene, viewers can see a pulsing vein in the victim's neck slowly stop moving.
  • sex false3 Sex: In one controversial scene, the 12-year-old vampire girl takes off her clothes (nothing is shown) and climbs into bed with the 12-year-old boy. There's no hint of sex or even kissing, but the boy does choose this moment to ask the girl to go steady. Later the boy and the girl share an awkward, sexually charged moment alone in a secret room, though nothing happens. Otherwise, the boy spies on his neighbors and catches a man and a woman about to have sex. Viewers see a naked breast and kissing. Some bullies at school try to remove a girl's bathing suit (the act is more malicious than sexual).
  • language false4 Language: Strong language throughout, including many uses of "f--k" and "s--t," as well as "Jesus," "Jesus Christ," and "God" (alll used as exclamations) and "goddamn," "pissed," "ass," and "crap."
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: Most brands/logos are used to help establish the movie's 1983 setting: Rubik's Cube, Ms. Pac-Man, KISS.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Several secondary characters, all teens, are seen smoking cigarettes. One of the main adult characters smokes regularly.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

4.0

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

Puppy love, but with lots of murder. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Jen Yamato

3.0

Jen Yamato Profile See Jen Yamato's Profile

Let the Original One In Instead Read full review See Dave Jen Yamato's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

Let Me In Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Watch All Videos

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook

Exclusive Features

20 Great Kids 20 Great Performances by Child Actors In tribute to the amazing, underage portrayals in the new horror film Let Me In (Matt Reeves' remake of the awesome Swedish vampire tale Let the Right One In), we present our list of 20 favorite, super cool kid movie breakthrough performances. Exclusive Comic-Con 2010 Interviews Chloe Moretz and the cast of "Let Me In" stop by to chat at Comic-Con!