The Innocents

In the first ten minutes or so of The Innocents cute, blonde nine-year-old Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløtta) eats a lolly that's been stuck on the car window, pinches her autistic sister's leg, HARD, gozzes over the balcony of her new apartment and puts broken glass shards into her sister's shoe. Pathological or sociopathic, maybe, but innocent? Hmmm. Of course, there's a lot more to it than this, not least the other children in the film - Ida's sister, Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad); Ben (Sam Ashraf); and Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim). This quartet dominate the film, leaving the parents to play very minor roles. In fact, we know very little about the adults, though we can surmise that Ben and Aisha's respective mums have it tough due to some nicely subtle shots (Aisha's mum weeping behind an open cupboard door, Ben's mum smoking nervously). Ida and Anna's folks are also struggling, mainly with concerns about Anna's condition, but also moving to a new area. Suffice to say, the older people have more than enough to worry about, which probably explains how these kids are able to roam the local area as freely as they do.

Early on, we learn that Ben is able to move things with his mind. Neat trick, in the right mind. It soon comes to light that all the kids have certain abilities, mainly the power to hear what one another is thinking, but as the film progresses, extra elements come into play. Ben discovers, via a horrific incident, that he's able to 'fetch' people, make them do what he wants. As Ben's mental stability deteriorates, it becomes clear this won't pan out well for those involved with him. Meanwhile, Anna's connection to Aisha helps her to speak for the first time in years and Ida slowly gains levels of empathy she hadn't previously shown. As events develop to a troubling crescendo, it's still the children that have the agency, the adults either being used as pawns or unwitting bystanders. One of the final scenes by the lake shows the neighbourhood kids all taking notice but, crucially, none of the adults, and watching this as a parent, it's a powerfully worrying moment. It's likely no accident that the 'innocents' of the title are not the kids at all, but their parents, and maybe all adults.

The four children are incredible - I'm guessing they were between 7 and 11 years of age - and special mention must go to director Eskil Vogt for making such a fantastical story believable and moving. I mean, some of the things these kids do in the film are near waking nightmares. Personally, I read The Innocents as a cautionary tale of laissez faire parenting, but maybe that's just my neurotic bent. What's not subjective is the film's quality. It's a corker.

The Innocents is showing now at the Luna cinemas.

See also:

Josh Trank's Chronicle (2012) and Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special (2016) are about kids with powers, but honestly, these aren't great. Maybe it's better going back to Richard Donner's The Omen (1976) or even this film's namesake, Jack Clayton's The Innocents (1961). They're proper creepy, them.