Francisco Roman/Showtime
Not every story can be successfully transposed to a different country and culture. Case in point: Let the Right One In, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel, which was faithfully adapted for the screen in 2008 by Tomas Alfredson, then remade in America in 2010 by The Batman director Matt Reeves as Let Me In, and now again arrives on domestic shores as a 10-part Showtime series. In its original Swedish incarnations, this tale of a weary man caring for a young vampire girl who befriends a lonely boy thrived courtesy of the strange, feral unnaturalness of its female protagonist and the twisted bond she shared with both her surrogate-dad caretaker and her new BFF. It was a nightmare defined by its icy, Nordic atmosphere and personality, as well as by its creepily inhuman main character—all of which was watered down by Reeves’ do-over (Chloë Grace Moretz is many things, but unnerving isn’t one of them), and proves even more neutered by Showtime’s rendition.
Let the Right One In (Oct. 9) sticks to the basic premise of its source material while also expanding its purview into new areas—a tack that, in most respects, proves reasonably engaging. Its primary focus is Mark (Demián Bichir), a Mexico City-born chef who has given up his career in order to care for his daughter Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez), who was bitten by a mysterious fiend at the age of 12 and now feeds on fresh human blood. Mark carts Eleanor around in a trunk, moving periodically to avoid detection and killing to keep her from starving—and, also, from hunting, since he’d prefer to make himself the true monster. After years away, they return to New York City because a spate of mysterious, horrific murders imply that another vampire is on the loose. Mark’s main mission is to find the culprit that turned Eleanor into a creature of the night, in the hopes that this being might hold the key to discovering a cure for her condition.
In their new Midtown apartment, Mark and Eleanor quickly meet their neighbors: NYPD detective and mom Naomi (Anika Noni Rose) and her son Isaiah (Ian Foreman), who loves magic and is tormented at school for his quirky-dorky personality. Eleanor is destined to become both Isaiah’s friend and defender against bullies, and Let the Right One In establishes both characters in sharp detail, fashioning them as three-dimensional lost souls searching for companionship. Showrunner Andrew Hinderaker emphasizes the humanity of everyone involved, be it Mark’s burdensome grief and desperation or Isaiah’s alienation and fear, which is exacerbated by strained ties with his father, Frank (Ato Essandoh). Though he reappears on his son’s doorstep as a proudly three-months-sober new man, Frank has nonetheless not abandoned his old life, surreptitiously dealing a new drug that seems to give users glowing cat eyes and extraordinary abilities—and thus might be related to NYC’s recent slayings.