An orphan for all practical purposes, 12-year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) has been left to sprout like a weed. At home, he gets sparse recognition from his divorcée mother; at school, he absorbs castrating taunts from a pack of bullies who’ve gleaned “eternal victim” from his spacey stare.
Owen fills the unstructured hours by sucking Now ’n’ Laters, fantasizing about empowering self-defense scenarios, and peeping across the courtyard of his apartment complex. Here, he spies a potential playmate moving in, a girl around his age. Watching her shuffle through the snow in bare feet, led by her embalmed, middle-aged guardian (Richard Jenkins), you might suspect they’re part of a penitent religious cult. You suspect worse soon after, when the town experiences a ritual murder with vampire tracks.
See www.villagevoice.com for full review
