DOUBLE FEATURE 10.16.20
Let the Right One In + Super Dark Times
PROVOKR gets into the Halloween spirit with a couple of lesser-known, unconventional horror films that are as sophisticated as they are chilling and contain themes frighteningly relevant today. One of them, Let the Right One In, is also PROVOKR’s Movie of the Week, so stream it for free here.
Super Dark Times is an atmospheric, psychological thriller that offers more than meets the eye. The set-up is a classic for the genre: A group of four teenagers spends an afternoon goofing off in the woods, and only three of them come back alive. Consumed by paranoia, guilt, and jealousy, the two central characters — longtime best friends, one of them awkward, the other cooler, both with crushes on the same girl — turn on one another in the aftermath of the accident that claimed the boy’s life. The distance between them gradually grows well past the point of no return. At heart, Super Dark Times is about the dark side of the challenging transition from boyhood to manhood, a coming-of-age under the most twisted of circumstances. Set in the 1990s, before Columbine, Super Dark Times also explores the relationship between unchecked mental health and violence in high schools, a topic all too painfully relevant in the 21st century. The haunting film is ripe with symbolism, and the subtext tackles themes that reverberate beyond the action and events that play out on the screen.
Hailed as one of the best vampire films ever made, the Swedish thriller Let the Right One In offers a startlingly original take on the blood-sucking subgenre. One of the things that make it so effective is that it is also about the impact of bullying on a child. While bullying isn’t a new phenomenon, it is considerably more prevalent today, as social media has given it a broader platform. It has become a lot easier to bully now that it can be anonymous and from behind a computer. The central character of Let the Right One In is a friendless, frail 12-year-old boy who is always picked on by his classmates. A sickly-looking girl moves into the apartment next to his, and they gradually become friends. Aside from the fact that she turns out to be a vampire responsible for killings in the neighborhood, she helps the boy gain courage and stand up to the bullies. But before you conclude that we’ve entered My Bodyguard territory, this film takes the notion of revenge and “fighting back” to the darkest of extremes. Let the Right One In is a film of stark contrasts: On the one hand, it is a romantic tale about first love, and on the other, it is a dark and disturbing fable about how bullying can make a monster out of a vulnerable, lonely kid.
