Recognizing that the film's title functions on both of these levels is important because it reveals how Alfredson deploys common vampire tropes in novel ways which serve to elevate the emotional content of the film, so that the "rules" surrounding vampires become metaphors for the emotional development both characters undergo. Thus, following Hakan's death, Eli goes to Oscar and he invites her into his room at the same moment that she implicitly invites him into her life, revealing to him the first explicit hints that she is something other than a twelve-year-old girl. From this point on, the two work to protect and comfort each other while providing each other with the confidence and companionship they need in order to be happy. Oscar confronts his bullies, and after a period of initial unhappiness, Eli gains a friend who accepts her as a vampire.

Though Eli initially has far more agency...
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