The Innocents (Movie Review)

There is no shortage of creepy children in the horror genre. Maybe it’s their unpredictable nature, their soulless stares, or their high-pitched giggles, but something about haunted youth can send a chill up my spine. And while Norwegian director Eskil Vogt’s The Innocents (De uskyldige) was not particularly scary in the general sense of the term, I found myself horrified by this eerie yet magical film.

The Innocents follows a group of children who mysteriously discover and share with one another their mysterious powers. We are first introduced to Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) who recently moved to a large apartment complex with her parents and older sister Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad) who is described as autistic and non-verbal. Ida is an unconventional protagonist, as her curiosity seems to have a destructive side that we see early on. She pinches her sister, crushes earthworms, and stomps on anthills. Early in the film, Ida meets Ben (Sam Ashraf), a young boy who has mysterious telekinetic powers. To round out this group of rowdy youth is gentle Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), who can communicate to and through Anna. These young misfits get along for a short time until we see a darker side of Ben and how the once innocent mysterious powers have turned into destruction.

It’s a slow burn of a film, but I was captivated by the unsettling nature from the start. The children are complex, each one escaping a complicated home life. Ida is overshadowed by Anna, who requires more attention given her nonverbal diagnosis. Aisha’s mother cries at night, perhaps about Aisha’s father, who is not present in the film. And Ben, the cruelest of the bunch, has bruises on his torso that are only visible when he takes his shirt off. These children are not easy to love, but they’re also difficult to fully hate. Are these children cruel due to the nature of the world around them? Are they mimicking the actions they have seen in their life or simply crying out for attention? Vogt doesn’t answer this question but shows us a reality that we don’t often get to see or turn a blind eye to. It’s uncomfortable to watch these innocent youth wrestling with the horrors of not only the real world, but the magical world they find themselves in. What was introduced to us as mysterious powers in the bright forest of Norway is quickly turned upside down as the forces take a dark turn.

While the film is beautifully shot and meticulously edited, I ultimately found myself disappointed by how Anna’s autism was portrayed. Anna is described and shown as non-verbal through the first half of the film, only speaking after meeting Aisha. Portraying neurodivergence is important in media, but Anna’s character feels shallow and I believe this could have been treated more sensitively, especially around the supernatural “cure” trope so often seen in film and television. I was pleased to see diversity among the cast, but Anna’s autism misses the mark and I wish her character was given more depth.

To sum it all up, The Innocents is not your typical “kids are creepy” film. Many of the shots are framed in a way that leaves you uncomfortable. It’s unsettling to watch the children fight back against evil, surrounded by adults and peers who don’t have a clue what they are up against. There’s a sense that what we see the children battling is only visible to the viewer as if the world around them can’t see what’s in front of their own faces. And that in itself may be the scariest thing of all.