Henry is a loner, living with his overprotective mother in a small Southern town called Battlecreek. Henry has a rare skin disease and must avoid sunlight. He lives his life at night. Henry doesn't know who he is or what he wants, until he meets Alison.
Anthea Anka's earnest script manages to paint Henry as a kindly, poetic fellow, but with enough quiet self-possession to avoid sinking him in pathos. It's a tricky balancing act, beautifully matched by Skarsgård's depiction.
Even when the movie skirts perilously close to banality, Skarsgard and Van der Boom develop a winning chemistry to hold our interest as their characters slowly (and in Alison's case, very reluctantly) warm to each other.