Which 2008 Swedish vampire film was directed by Tomas Alfredson?

The 2008 Swedish vampire film directed by Tomas Alfredson is Let the Right One In.

Known in Swedish as Låt den rätte komma in, the film is adapted from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel. It follows Oskar, a bullied 12-year-old boy living in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, who befriends Eli, a mysterious child who arrives with an older caretaker and a disturbing secret.

Alfredson deliberately treats the vampire premise as part of a broader story about loneliness, friendship, violence, and dependence. The snowy suburban setting and quiet pacing distinguish the film from more conventional horror, while its moments of brutality remain stark and unsettling. The relationship between Oskar and Eli is the emotional center, though the film leaves aspects of Eli’s identity deliberately open to interpretation.

The film premiered at the Gothenburg Film Festival in January 2008 and was released theatrically in Sweden later that year. It received strong international acclaim and helped renew interest in serious, atmospheric vampire cinema. An English-language remake, Let Me In, directed by Matt Reeves, followed in 2010, but it is a separate film.