The Innocents

This film's plot felt very similar to Chronicle. Dark. Twisted. Though this film engaged me in a way that Chronicle did not. It had me more invested in the characters (acting was on point 👌) and the outcome.

Like trying to get the kids to go back to bed and leave you alone... then realizing you don't have kids.

The movie is the story of a group of children who discover they have special powers when they're together, and of the one, troubled boy who decides to use this power for bad.

_The Innocents_ is the bastard child of other films that led the way (notably _Village of the Damned_ and _The Omen_) but, fortunately, has learned from their mistakes and gone on to greater heights.

Written to perfection and directed with a good deal of suspense by Eskil Vogt, _The Innocents_ goes harder than any American film with children would dare go and will leave bite marks on the viewer's memory long after the film has ended.

People discovering they have psychic powers, experimenting with it, growing stronger, then falling out and confronting each other. Known story, except this time it's with very young children.

It's actually funny because every little plot issue made to keep the story go on that would normally be very easily spotted and annoying (like "why the hell is this character acting like that, that's so stupid, of course there will be consequences") is washed away by "of course they're children". For instance, [spoiler]Aisha's death[/spoiler] was easily preventable, but they just weren't allowed to go out. [spoiler]Though why didn't she take precautions against her mother ? Ida did.[/spoiler]

The whole story takes place out of sight of adults, they're just accessories. So much that you're kinda wondering what they're doing. Children are out all the time, unsupervised, even if one is autistic, left to the supervision of her 9yo sister, even when a teenager got killed. No one seems to be noticing Ben's mother absence either. It's an interesting take on the theme, the way the children experiment with their power is totally different from what adults would do, simpler, funnier, in the beginning, and rapidly more cruel too. Even the simple fact that they just simply accept the existence of these powers.

Not a fan of "the innocents" concept. These children are not innocents, it usually implies they wouldn't know the difference between good and evil, but they clearly do, they know what they're doing is bad. Even less a fan of the cliche of the psychopath child killing a cat.
Here it's still important, it's Ida's turning point but still would have rather not see it. Before that she's pretty bad herself, specially with her sister. I mean [spoiler]the broken glass in the shoe ? When she knows that Anna won't say anything and keep hurting herself for a long time[/spoiler], that was pretty hardcore. She was also ok with throwing the cat from the 10th floor, and just drew the limit at crushing his skull afterwards...
I like that we have no idea where these powers came from, and even if the last fight show us that lots of children are at least able to feel what's happening, it's not even a subject, clearly still a secret from adults, and they never interacted with others.

Anyway, even if it's pretty expected the story works, and the tension is still there, the children are actually quite good, specially Anna, and they have a lot of evolution during the story.
Ben is a solid [spoiler]antagonist[/spoiler]. It's shown early that he's a psychopath but the getting worse part is well done and you rapidly have no issue accepting that [spoiler]this child must be killed[/spoiler].

Blend of psychological drama, supernatural thriller, and superhero origin story. To be fair, those descriptions don't quite do this innovative and smart film justice but if you like any of those aforementione genres, you might like this slow-burning tale if you can stick with it. The performances from the young case are phenomenal.

This film was all these kids' very first role and they're still better than 95% of the child actors you see in USA movies.

Eskil Vog, the writer for the TWPITW and who wrote the screenplay for Oslo, 31st August, has finally arrived as a brilliant Director with this cinematic masterpiece of a slow burn horror thriller. The film navigates through the less traveled roads of good and evil within a childhood setting. The childhood's innocence and its corruption, and the power of friendship and how it can help us overcome our fears. Can be disturbing at moments as the film stretches itself wandering into the complexity of childhood emotions.

It's a solid 7.5 for me, mega slow burner but it's typical of North EU films, i liked it

So many emotions, I don't know what to do with them. This was just brutal.

With a script and direction by Norwegian Eskil Vogt, "De Uskyldige" tells the story of a small group of lower-middle-class children who meet in one summer and discover that they share the possession of supernatural powers. What begins as child's play evolves into something terrifying that pushes the boundaries of morality and pits them against each other in a war that only they can wage. The story is thoroughly entertaining and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time; the child actors are terrific in their first movie roles. I really liked the sound that goes very well with some scenes full of tension. Maybe it could have been slightly shorter, but it works pretty well. See it at your own risk.

Intense nerv wrecking piece of gold