February Movie Pick: 'The Innocents'

This movie will captivate you with its realistic portrayal of supernatural powers and its exploration of abuse, demonstrating how innocent games can quickly turn dark. During the summer, four youngsters unveil their ominous abilities when their families are preoccupied, and their childish behavior soon takes a monstrous turn. The movie has some clever twists and turns, providing bold storytelling, great acting, especially from the kids who are the center of this film, and decent visual effects. Some of the fights here were never explained, and in that way, I felt a bit cheated because it was hard to follow what was going on. However, that was a rare instance in the movie. When you understood exactly what these kids were doing, the movie was terrifying. I was wondering if anyone could really stop an abused child with such powers, and I will not spoil more because the movie is worth your time, and it is something totally different from what we have seen so far. The visuals, the culture, and the way these families deal with their problems made for an interesting and fresh watch.

The whole movie takes place on the ground of their building and parts of the forest around it. I would describe the cinematography as realistically beautiful and very Nordic European. A24 is making a name for itself mainly because it is providing European aesthetic and craziness to the overly polluted with mediocrity Hollywood. Even though this movie has nothing to do with the studio and it is considered a box office flop, the director and the actors did an incredible job and should be considered for a future movie distributed by A24. I was in it. I hated some of the kids, I loved the others, then back to hating and back to loving, and that is a very impressive job to accomplish. I was engaged the whole time, and the story was flowing seamlessly. This brutal realism mixed with a supernatural storyline is something I would love to explore further. 

Too bad that the movie fell flat in the box office achievements because that could give the wrong impression that maybe movies like this are never needed. Watching it years after it came out on Prime Video could help in creating a cult following, resulting in a rejuvenated genre and new stories that are as intriguing as this one. Maybe the second part of this movie, if it ever comes up, could follow the kids as adults in some big city dealing with the trauma of these past events, trying to forget what happened or maybe deal with it and face directly their questionable behavior. 

I have to say that this movie impressed me a lot. Director and writer Eskil Vogt was Oscar-nominated in 2022 with his movie 'The Worst Person in the World' that I am now obligated to watch it. This director is proving himself with his originality and bold swings, and if he creates a big enough fandom, a studio will notice him and pick him up to create something that will probably explode worldwide.

Iliya Badev