10 Movie Plot Twists So Subtle You Totally Missed Them
4. Eli Is A Boy - Let The Right One In
Let the Right One In is a film filled with terrifically subtle details, and one which is easily missed if you turn away for even a second involves vampire Eli's (Lina Leandersson) true nature.
Though presented as a girl, there's one fleeting, telling shot which suggests otherwise. At one point, young protagonist Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) spies on Eli after she showers, and director Tomas Alfredson shows the incredibly brief glimpse of what appears to be "her" scarred crotch.
It's easily missed, but this is actually a reference to John Ajvide Lindqvist's original novel, where it's explicitly revealed that Eli is actually a boy named Elias who was castrated against his will after being turned into a vampire over 200 years prior.
There are other hints to this, given that Eli flat-out asks Oskar mid-way through the movie, "If I wasn't a girl, would you like me anyway?," though audiences might simply assume that Eli views herself not as a girl but a monster.
Alfredson did originally intend to include this subplot in the movie in a more explicit way, even planning to film the castration scene, but ultimately decided against it.