The Innocents is a story about kids. Not college students, high schoolers or even pre-teens, such as the twelve-year-olds in the first season of Stranger Things - but about actual little kids ranging from roughly nine to eleven years old. And one of the most remarkable things about this film is how easily and fully we become immersed in their world. It is a movie that pulls you in and holds your attention. And then stays with you.
The Innocents is a Norwegian picture that premiered at Cannes in 2021, was screened at a few subsequent film festivals, and then had a very limited general release. It was well received by critics but did not find an audience with the general public. Most likely, this was due to the Covid pandemic, but perhaps also to a lack of promotion, as it was pegged as a niche film. Which is a shame, because it is a quality picture that deserves to be seen.
In Norway, apparently, it’s not so unusual to allow relatively young kids to go out unchaperoned to play with other neighborhood kids. It used to be that way here in the US as well. Like when I came up in the mid-1950s, it was a common practice in my middle-middle-class urban neighborhood. At six, I was walking to school five long blocks away with my big sister (10). Not for my kids (or their kids now). And it is precisely this: the independence that allows them to connect with other kids they happen to meet (unmediated by parental prejudice or precaution) – that makes their stories so immediate and believable.
Why do we refer to children as “innocents"? The term essentially means “uncorrupted”, inexperienced or childishly naïve, unaware of the bad things that life may have in store. Also, free from moral wrong. Everyone experiences a loss of innocence at some point, of course, which is what this story is all about.
The Innocents opens with nine-year-old Ida, whose family has just moved into a tall new apartment block. The development is built around a plaza and playground on one side. The other side backs up against a large wooded area – a more intriguing place for youngsters. Ida has a sister, Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad), about two or three years older and a head taller than she. But Anna is severely autistic; she does not speak words and lives in a rather dreamy world of her own making. It is no surprise that Ida gets less of Mom and Dad’s attention; far from being resentful, the greater independence this allows seems to suit her just fine. Ida is a small girl, smart, curious and very Nordic looking with her blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes. She’s played brilliantly (if one can say this about such a young actor) by Rakel Lenora Flokum, who wordlessly expresses Ida’s inner thoughts and feelings with the skill of a seasoned pro. And when she flashes her big, brilliant smile, she lights up the
screen.
Ida knows no one in her new place, but early on, she picks up a couple of new friends. The first is a moody, enigmatic boy named Ben (Sam Ashraf). Ben is a loner, but he takes to Ida and impresses her by showing off his new skill: a telekinetic ability to move a bottle cap or bend a stream of water at will. Soon they meet Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), a sweet, somewhat solemn girl about Ida’s age; encouraged by Ben, she discovers that she too has some psychic talents.
Ida has volunteered to help her parents by minding Anna, whom she introduces to her new friends, and who becomes a fourth member of their little group. The other kids accept her condition without judgment or criticism. Almost miraculously, Anna begins to open up a little to this human contact, initially in response to telepathic messaging of Ben and Aisha. For, unlike Ida, she too has some psychic propensities.
As Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com has noted, and you may have noticed from my summary of the set-up, The Innocents starts out rather like a superhero origin story. But it goes from there to examine those youthful days when kids are figuring out for themselves what’s moral and what’s not and what words like “good” and “evil” actually mean in a real-world context.
Genre labels can be helpful sometimes, yet are often misleading, as many of the best films don’t fit neatly into a standard-issue box. But film sites like to categorize.
IMDB labels
The Innocents as “Drama, Fantasy, Horror”.
Rotten Tomatoes says “Horror, Mystery, Thriller”. The picture is most definitely a drama and yes, an air of mystery settles in as the story progresses. There are moments that are “grip-the-armrest” thrilling too. The “horror” label is more problematic, because that genre is so broad. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I don’t consider myself a fan of “horror” generally and tend to avoid that genre as a rule. But just as I really liked
The Witch (2015) – which IMDB likewise called “Drama, Fantasy, Horror” - I quite enjoyed
The Innocents.
So, what flavor of “horror” do we have here? I can assure you that this is definitely NOT a slasher film. Likewise, there are no wet-your-pants jump scares to contend with. But as the child protagonists explore their newfound telekinetic and telepathic powers and as these are filtered through their respective personalities, the movie’s mood becomes disquieting and, well, creepy. There is a dark side: cruelty and violence that you will likely find unsettling or disturbing. Such moments are few, but they are important and indelible. This is a horror story like, for example,
Strangers on a Train (1951) or
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) are horror stories. (Both of which, not coincidentally, based on Patricia Highsmith novels.) The brief moments of violence in
The Innocents, it must be said, are more graphic than those earlier pictures.
Importantly, and unlike those other films, however, the creepy behavior here is child initiated (for me at least, slightly easier to handle for some reason). What’s especially interesting about The Innocents, in fact, is how most of the movie, including the creepy stuff, is experienced through the child’s “innocent” point of view. This perspective permits us to more easily understand (if not excuse) a child’s heinous action. Actually, heinous may be the wrong word applied to a youngster; “amoral” is more accurate. Our judgements may not matter. As it turns out, it’s the other kids’ responses that determine and propel the tale’s resolution.
Without minimizing the creepy parts, I want to emphasize that this picture is much more than that. It's also – and quite often – sweet and tender with its finely observed depiction of a child’s sensibilities. It can be lonely and confusing for a nine-year-old trying to understand their place in the world and navigate decisions about right and wrong. For us viewers, while it may be disturbing, it’s also captivating and fascinating.
Writer/director Eskil Vogt has done a superlative job with the young actors here, working with them for months before filming even began. Whatever he did, it really pays off, because all four of these kids are so captivating – so young and so natural that it’s hard to believe they are acting. They really are a wonder.
While clearly not for everyone, The Innocents is highly recommended.
1 hour 57 minutes
Grade: A-
After its underwhelming theatrical release last Spring, The Innocents was released broadly for streaming in October 2022. Watch free with a subscription to AMC+ or Shudder. Available to rent (around $4 - $5) on most other platforms, including AppleTV, GooglePlay, and AmazonPrime.
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