The Innocents
Chilling thriller by Eskil Vogt (Blind) about four children who become friends during their summer holidays and discover that they have paranormal powers.
In the second feature from writer-director Eskil Vogt, a frequent Joachim Trier collaborator and co-writer of the romantic comedy THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, a group of children test the limits of both their power and their morality. This psychological horror follows Anna, who has recently moved to an apartment complex with her parents and sister. The younger Ida is resentful of the attention her parents pay to Anna, who has autism and is nonverbal, and Ida frequently torments her. Soon the sisters fall in with two other kids in the complex – who have supernatural abilities and their own grievances – and the capacity children have for cruelty is put on full display, often intriguing and horrific at the same time.
Some people who have an idealized image of ten-year-olds will certainly be shocked. On the other hand, the screenwriter-director also shows that children always look for the good. THE INNOCENTS transcends the banal tales of children with superpowers and has everything to become a classic in its genre.