‘The Innocents’ (2021)
Stories of kids with superpowers don’t appeal to me. That’s why I was slow to watch Eskil Vogt’s ‘The Innocents,’ despite the pedigree shown in his other work—he wrote all of Joachim von Trier’s films, proving himself consistently sharp, sophisticated, and insightful. I needn’t have worried. He brings the same sly sophistication to bear on this creepy fantasy tale of pre-teen alienation.
It reminded me of ‘a boy in a park.’ I think for several reasons.
It’s set on a Norwegian housing estate, but follows its lonely protagonists into the playgrounds, hard courts, and forest that surround the high-rise apartment blocks. These outdoor scenes feel like the world of ‘boy in a park’.
Much of the action unfolds out of reach and beyond the knowledge of their parents. It is their world and it is full of secrets and menace. The menace, however, comes not from the outside but from one of their own. A boy, the neglected son of an immigrant, who uses his powers of telekinesis to exact retribution on those who cross him.
Vogt introduces him as a lonely boy mooching around on the margins who is delighted to befriend a new arrival on the estate. He impresses with his nascent powers but, as must always happen, the boy gets carried away. This is a boy who has been damaged and his pain overcomes whatever moral sensibility he might possess; it blots out the voices of those who would be his friends.
A boy who seems both innocent and malevolent, on the cusp of morality. In this he reminds me of ‘the boy’—the boy who would control the heart of the girl he loves, who would make noble birds his playthings; a boy who’d steal magpie eggs, or let anger get him trapped in an underground chamber.
But mine are not horror stories and injuries sustained in those adventures are nothing compared to the shocks that transpire in Vogt’s film.
‘The Innocents‘ was released earlier this year (2022) and should currently be available to stream. Check here.
‘a boy in a park‘ is available to purchase through most on-line retailers, while the hardback first edition may be ordered via this website. And if you are local, I may even be able to drop it to your door. You can contact me here.)