The Innocents, written and directed by Eskil Vogt, follows four children in a Norwegian housing complex over the course of a bright and sunny summer. That will be the last time I use the phrase “bright and sunny” in this review because The Innocents is anything but. This deeply disturbing film explores what would happen if young children were given paranormal powers such as mind control, telekinesis, or telepathy. What choices would they make? Would they use these abilities to help people, or to hurt people? For the four children in The Innocents, the answer varies greatly.
The Innocents opens with a beautiful close up shot of a cherubic young girl sleeping in a car, sunlight drifting across her freckled face. The girl, Ida (Rakel Lenora Flottum), is soon awakened by guttural sounds coming from her nonverbal, autistic sister, Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad) in the seat next to her. Looks can be deceiving though; Ida then leans over and pinches Anna’s thigh, hard. Clearly, Ida is no angel.
Ida, Anna, and their parents are relocating to the aforementioned housing complex, which is eerily quiet due to most residents being on holiday. The complex is massive, ominous even. But not as massive as the forest it backs up to. The Innocents takes place entirely in one of those 2 settings. I loved how the filmmakers juxtaposed the towering, modern housing complex against the dense, mysterious forest. The paranormal activity originates in the forest, but it inevitably makes its way to the complex, with horrific results.
Ida and Anna soon befriend two other children in the complex: sweet, intuitive Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), and erratic, moody Ben (Sam Ashraf). Aisha and Ben are like two sides of the same coin. Both are raised by single mothers, but Aisha’s is kind and loving, Ben’s seems barely tolerant of him. Aisha is sweet and compassionate, Ben is bullied, hurting, volatile. These differences cause the two to frequently butt heads throughout the film, in increasingly tense ways.
Initially, Ben and Ida pair off, which makes sense. They are outwardly the two mischievous ones. Ida cannot resist Ben’s initial question of “Would you like to see something?”. What 9 year old could? The “something” turns out to be a treehouse in the woods, as well as Ben’s ability to control movement of a bottlecap with his mind. Ida is amazed, and reciprocates by showing Ben her double jointed arms. Both burst into giggles. Everything seems great….but this film is marketed as horror. You KNOW something is going to go downhill. And it does. Fast.
In the meantime, we see that Aisha has bonded strongly with Anna. The two share a deep connection, and it’s a beautiful thing to witness unfold. When the four children are together, their combined gifts grow stronger. They can read each others thoughts. Move things with their minds heavier than they thought possible. Which is “innocent” fun….until. Ben’s exploration of his power leads him to torture and murder a cat (animal sensitive viewers may want to pass). Ida, who up until now was onboard with Ben’s bad behavior…realizes that Ben is dangerous. But she may be too late.
The Innocents is an amazingly deep film based on the morality we are all supposed to develop as children. How much is excusable? Where are we now on our collective moral compass? What would you have done?
Please keep an eye on your children. 🙂
Score - 92%
92%
The Innocents is an amazingly deep film based on the morality we are all supposed to develop as children. How much is excusable? Where are we now on our collective moral compass? What would you have done?
