The Innocents is a bone-chilling film that is just the right amount disturbing. This is one that audiences won’t soon forget.
Any horror movie can immediately jump to ten on the creepy scale when children are added into the story, and The Innocents is no different. This movie centers around a group of children with strange, dark, mysterious powers — who love to use them when the adults aren’t around. If you aren’t creeped out yet, don’t worry, you will be when you tune in.
The child actors in this movie are all fantastic, giving perfectly bone-chilling performances, which is quite impressive considering the usual overacting that usually comes from kids. The script and story certainly help, combined with the eerie score it sets the right tone to put even the bravest audience members on edge.
If you aren’t sold yet, let’s dive into the premise of the film. The Innocents focuses mainly on four young children. They all live in the same apartment building, and some of them have bizarre powers that allow them to do supernatural things. These kids carry the entire film and before you decide to assume it can be skipped because, well, child actors, think again. Rakel Lenora Fløttum (Ida), Alva Brynsmo Ramstad (Anna), Sam Ashraf (Ben), and Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim (Aisha) are all extremely talents and should be watched, because they aren’t going anywhere.
The interactions between these are disturbing and downright frightening at times. What they bring to the film, takes it to a whole new level. While it isn’t a perfect movie, it is never the fault of these actors. Their facial expressions, mannerisms, and delivery of lines will send shivers down anyone’s spine — right from the very first scene.
As I said, there are some small problems with The Innocents, even though it is truly a great supernatural thriller. This movie clocks in right around two hours, and if it was just a tad shorter, perhaps ten minutes or so, it would have been a lot cleaner. What I mean by this is there are just a few moments that drag on. Not to the point where the audience falls out of the film, or where viewers will want to turn it off, but just enough to slow the pacing down a bit too much. In the defense of the child actors, however, these scenes always have the adults in them.
This movie isn’t frightening in the sense that it is packed with jump scares and CGI monsters, quite the opposite actually. The Innocents is a subtle thriller, that lets the story be the scary part. In a way, it is about the rash decisions that kids often make. Even though they might be innocent, they can’t control their emotions, and they hold grudges. The way that they handle this, and how they act towards each other when the adults aren’t around, that is the terrifying part.
Trigger warning: The Innocents features an animal death that is probably the most disturbing thing I have seen on screen in a while — if not ever. I gagged and almost vomited, it was THAT disturbing. So animal lovers be warned — especially those who favor cats.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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About The Innocents
The Innocents follows four children who become friends during the summer holidays. Out of sight of the adults, they discover they have hidden powers. While exploring their newfound abilities in the nearby forests and playgrounds, their innocent play takes a dark turn and strange things begin to happen.
The Innocents is playing in select theaters and is available on VOD now.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.