Let the Right One In writer delves into troll mythology with Border

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN was my pick for Best Picture of 2008, and as time has gone by it has become firmly established as one of my favorite films regardless of year. That film's director, Tomas Alfredson, currently has a movie in theatres, the serial killer tale, THE SNOWMAN, that hasn't been very positively received. (Our own Eric Walkuski gave it a 3/10 review.) Maybe LET THE RIGHT ONE IN screenwriter John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the novel that film was based on, will have better luck with the new horror project BORDER.

Ali Abbasi, who made his feature directorial debut with SHELLEY, has directed an adaptation of the Lindqvist novella BORDER, which is said to blend troll mythology with a darkly romantic horror story. Abbasi wrote the adaptation with Isabella Eklöf, and there are a couple different synopses available for it.

The short and sweet one: 

When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.

The more detailed, SPOILERy one: 

Border tells the story of a female customs officer who is extremely good at spotting smugglers. Tina's extraordinary sense of smell allows her to detect if people are hiding something. One day, a man by the name of Vore walks by, and Tina's abilities are challenged for the first time ever. She knows that he is hiding something important from her. Vore is searched by to no avail. Reluctantly, Tina allows Vore to leave.

When Vore reappears a couple of weeks later, Tina has him thoroughly examined and stays close to him. To her surprise she feels strangely attracted to him and a special bond between them starts taking shape.

The examination leads to an unexpected revelation: Vore is not human and neither is Tina. Both of them are trolls who grew in a world in which humans made them fit into society by force.

Tina's sense of self begins to fall apart as she discovers that her life has been one big lie. She has to choose whether to continue living the lie or join Vore's fight against the humans: A choice with crucial consequences.

This doesn't sound as appealing to me as a vampire story like LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, but I'm still on board to check it out. There aren't all that many troll-based horror movies out there, so that makes it stand out a bit.

The folks over at Bloody-Disgusting got their hands on an image, seen below, that seems to be our first look at one of the film's troll characters.