Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Sam Ashraf
Saving cinema viewers from the burning building of superhero oversaturation, this beastly tale of supernatural gifts comes courtesy of director Eskil Vogt (Blind). Vogt delivers something as chilling, well-observed and thoughtful as many of his scripts for director Joachim Trier (including The Worst Person in the World and Oslo August 31), but taken to an otherworldly realm.
Ida moves into a housing block with her autistic elder sister Anna and becomes fast friends with Ben and Aisha. The four children roam in the hills near the estate, discovering that Ben can move objects with his mind. In time, a psychic bond develops between them, but their new gifts ask them to walk a line between good and evil.
Levitating somewhere between the chilling Scandinavian horror of Let the Right One In, the work of John Wyndham and the ‘superpowers in the real world’ of Chronicle, this is a winning mix of arthouse and genre. The Innocents unfolds with unhurried naturalism, showing a real commitment to easing us into the choices fully developed characters make when faced with supernatural powers. It’s a confrontation with an unsentimental view of childhood, backed up by uncannily strong performances from its young cast.
