The Innocents review: One of 2022’s best horror films
Review Overview
Exceptional child performances
10Suspense and chills
10Superb direction
10Matthew Turner | On 20, May 2022
Director: Eskil Vogt
Cast: Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim, Sam Ashraf, Ellen Dorrit Pedersen, Morten Svartveit, Kadra Yusuf, Lisa Tønne
Certificate: 15
Not content with writing one of the best films of 2021 (The Worst Person in the World), Norwegian writer-director Eskil Vogt has also made one of the best horror films of 2022. The basic set-up – young children gain special powers – may sound overly familiar in the current era of superhero saturation, but the perfectly judged script, superlative direction and exceptional performances mark this out as a genuinely haunting genre flick that’s set to leave a significant impact.
Set at the height of summer, the film takes place in a seemingly ordinary Norwegian tower block estate, where 9-year-old Ida (Rakel Lenora Flottum) has just moved with her parents (Ellen Dorrit Pedersen and Morten Svartveit) and elder sister, Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad). Sent outside to play, Ida swiftly befriends Ben (Sam Ashraf), who’s keen to show her this new trick he can do with his mind and a rock.
Things escalate, as Ben graduates to experimenting with his power on a neighbourhood cat (consider this a trigger warning) and then turns his attention to local bullies. Meanwhile, Ida and Ben also befriend Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), who can hear everyone’s thoughts and is able to communicate with Anna, whose regressive autism has left her unable to speak.
Vogt coaches a quartet of extraordinary performances from his four young leads, generating everything from heart-breaking vulnerability and touching moments of friendship to palpable chills. Together with cinematographer Sturia Brandth Grovlen, Vogt also creates a terrific sense of place – the film never moves beyond the boundaries of the sun-drenched tower blocks and their immediate surrounding area. Grovlen makes strong use of tight close-ups, accentuating the children’s point-of-view and making the atmosphere feel increasingly oppressive as a result. In addition, the sound design is exemplary, particularly when illustrating Aisha’s powers. The film tells you next to nothing, in terms of dialogue, but you’re never in any doubt as to what’s going on.
The script is beautifully paced, slowly ratcheting up both the stakes and the tension to near-unbearable levels. It explores a number of compelling themes in fascinating ways. On the one hand, it grafts a supernatural element onto a familiar story of playground politics, while on the other, it looks at how power both corrupts and destroys – another theme that’s familiar from superhero stories.
What’s interesting is that, because the children are so young, Vogt is also able to make the film a study of empathy, or, more specifically how children develop empathy – accordingly, perhaps the film’s most chilling moment occurs early on, when Ida seemingly has no emotional reaction to something deeply disturbing, giving the impression that she’s on a knife-edge, hovering between good and evil, with the audience holding their collective breath to see which way she’ll fall.
In short, this is one of the best genre movies you’ll see all year – a terrifying Norwegian chiller that will have you on the edge of your seat. See it now, before the inevitable US remake.