The Innocents (2021)

August 28, 2022 5:18 PM

Four children become friends during the summer holidays, and 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.

A Norwegian supernatural thriller film written and directed by Eskil Vogt.

97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Shudder. Also available for digital rental on multiple outlets. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (12 comments total)

Trigger warning: animal abuse and killing, abuse of a non-neurotypical child, violence.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:46 PM on August 28, 2022

So... does the animal abuse involve cats? Because that is a hard no for me. Otherwise, it's hard maybe.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:52 AM on August 29, 2022

It absolutely involves cats.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:34 AM on August 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thanks; I definitely give it a pass.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:16 PM on August 29, 2022

I tried it last night, only happened upon this. But the early cat cruelty was WAY too much for me. Shame, cause I was interested in the trailer but NO.
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:13 AM on September 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is a bit like if Chronicle were an elegant Norwegian film about children instead of a loud American found footage film about teenagers.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:49 PM on September 2, 2022

This is fucking bleak. And so well-consructed. You'd never imagine the tension they could get from children staring each other down.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:23 PM on September 3, 2022

Wow holy shit. I just watched this, and I feel like it's kind of like a reeeeally stripped-down More Than Human.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 12:46 AM on September 6, 2022

I think if you watched this and Speak No Evil back-to-back, you could end up shaking and crying.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:16 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

I got as far as them taking the cat to the top of the stairs and noped out of it.
posted by johnofjack at 3:34 AM on December 24, 2022

I came back to it, finally, got past the cat scene (that little asshole!... the boy, not the cat) then got to about halfway through it and may have just said aloud "you killed her, you little fuck."

I can't stand animal cruelty, and this boy is heading down the path towards serial killer.

Now I'm going to pet my cat a bit and play some House Flipper 2. Someday I'll finish this and get it off my watchlist. That might not be today.
posted by johnofjack at 4:21 PM on October 22, 2024

Finished it finally. It was well-made and effective and I hated most of it.

I will say that if you're a filmmaker and you have four main characters and two of them are white with blonde hair and blue eyes and two of them are people of color, then unless you are dealing deliberately and thoughtfully with race, you probably don't want to make the villain a person of color. Also, you probably shouldn't have the two who survive be white and the two who die be people of color. (Again, unless you're dealing deliberately and thoughtfully with race, which I don't think this one was.)

Anyway. Off my watchlist it goes--
posted by johnofjack at 3:39 PM on October 24, 2024