The Innocents

Norwegian director Eskil Vogt constructs a disturbing thriller that pushes the boundaries of morality with a tale of four children who develop unusual abilities—telepathy, telekinesis and a very frightening ability to control minds. Nine-year-old Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) and her family have just moved into an apartment complex on the outskirts of Oslo. It's summer vacation and Ida plays outside with her autistic sister Anna (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad). At the playground, Ida meets Ben (Sam Ashraf), a lonely boy who shows Ida that he can make a bottle cap move with his mind. Anna, abandoned by her sister on the playground, simultaneously befriends Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim), a young girl with vitiligo. Anna can't talk, but somehow the two can still communicate. The four children become friends and try everything they can to test their newly discovered gifts. But Ben has far more chilling plans than just child’s play…

‘Five stars! Icily brilliant… it might yet become a scary-movie classic: it greased my palms with anxiety and incidentally has some of the best child acting I have ever seen… The final “duel” scene, taking place in almost complete silence and under the nose of the notionally competent adults, is a masterpiece of sorts. “The Innocents” is a nightmare unfolding in cold, clear daylight.’—Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian