Let the Right One In

Oskar hides Eli’s belongings under his bed while thinking back on the day’s events. He and Eli had fallen asleep earlier in Eli’s apartment. He’d told Eli about Jonny bullying him at the train station. When Eli asked if Oskar wanted to become a vampire, Oskar refused. He does however want to stay with Eli. The police interrupted their time together by sawing through the front door. They jumped out the window, and Eli fled.

Oskar skips school on Tuesday, but he considers how he must return on Wednesday and face Jonny. He takes Eli’s belongings to the basement storage area, then returns home, grabs matches and the alcohol Eli stole, and goes to school. He sets Jonny’s and Tomas’s desks on fire, but the flames are so intense that the entire room catches fire. He flees while hearing an explosion. When he slows down, he sees in a reflection that the fire completely singed his eyelashes.

Oskar remains home again. When his principal calls, Oskar hangs up. Oskar sees Tommy return home. Tommy looks shaken and walks hunched over like an elderly person. Oskar’s mom queries him later about the fire. The school is sure Oskar started the fire because the fire began at Jonny’s and Tomas’s desks. Oskar lies, then goes to his room and taps the wall. There’s no answer.

Oskar doesn’t go to school again. He thought setting Jonny’s and Tomas’s desks on fire would soothe him, but he’s restless. Mr. Ávila calls to invite Oskar to training. Though Oskar doesn’t want to go, Mr. Ávila assures him that there won’t be any judgment. Johan calls next, wanting to hang out. Oskar refuses, but tells Johan that he’s going to the gym that night. When Oskar asks Johan about the damage, Johan plays it down. In reality, Johan is calling Oskar on behalf of Jimmy and Jonny, both of whom want revenge for their father’s album’s destruction in the fire.

Oskar’s mom returns home and phones Oskar’s father. She learns that Oskar left during his visit, and she threatens to never let Oskar visit his father again. Oskar heads to the gym to escape his parents’ arguing.

Jimmy and Jonny set a trap for Oskar. Jimmy brings two thugs along, and though Jonny feels apprehensive about Jimmy’s brutish friends, Jimmy assures them that they need the extra muscle to overtake Mr. Ávila. Inside the gym, Oskar and Mr. Ávila meet. When Mr. Ávila asks Oskar if he started the fire, Oskar confesses. Mr. Ávila suggests physical fitness to help Oskar. Oskar goes to the pool and immediately regrets attending the session when the boys begin whispering about him. Micke, too, smiles at him, though it disarms Oskar: “[Micke] smiled his usual, cryptic smile that could mean everything from that he was about to give you a nice present, to he was about to do something terrible to you” (462).

Oskar swims in the pool while wishing he could just disappear. It’s revealed that Micke is in on Jonny’s scheme—the fire at school burned up Micke’s baseball cards and he wants revenge. As Oskar watches, Micke informs Mr. Ávila that he has a call in his office. Jimmy’s friends, Roger and Prebbe, attack Mr. Ávila, knock him out, and steal his keys. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Jonny find Oskar in the pool. Jimmy produces a knife and grabs Oskar roughly by the hair. He tells him that they will play a game. Oskar has to hold his breath underwater for five minutes or lose an eye. Oskar pleads with Jimmy because he’s only been able to hold his breath for three minutes. Before Oskar can finish pleading, Jimmy shoves Oskar’s head underwater.

Micke loses his nerve once he realizes that Jimmy and Jonny might seriously hurt Oskar. Micke then sees a strange girl (Eli) outside. Eli asks Micke to invite her in. He does, and Eli disappears. When Jimmy brings Oskar back up and prepares to cut his eye out, the gym’s window shatters.

Holmberg, the policeman from Chapter 1, attempts to make sense of his notes. On the night of Oskar’s attack, Oskar disappeared. The police found Jonny’s and Jimmy’s heads floating at the bottom of the pool, while forensics found the boys’ blood all the way up on the ceiling. The blood could only have reached that high from something in flight. The traumatized students reported that an angel swooped into the pool and saved Oskar.

In the last scene, Oskar rides the train with a large trunk. Though the trunk is heavy, Oskar tells a conductor that it won’t be heavy once they reach their destination.