The Innocents (2021 film)

**The Innocents (2021 film)**

*The Innocents* (Norwegian: *De uskyldige*) is a 2021 supernatural dark fantasy horror thriller written and directed by Eskil Vogt. It first showed at the 74th Cannes Film Festival on 11 July 2021, as part of the Un Certain Regard section.

The story centers on a young girl, Ida, who moves into a new apartment with her parents and her older sister Anna, who has nonverbal autism. Ida soon befriends a boy named Ben, who can move objects with his mind and read thoughts. Their friendship takes a dark turn when Ben kills a stray cat by dropping it from the top of the apartment stairs and crushing its skull. Ida later meets another girl, Aisha, who shares similar abilities. Anna also turns out to have powers, and with Aisha’s help, she begins to speak tentatively, delighting her parents. The three children’s powers are strongest when they are together, while Ida appears to have no abilities.

The children grow close and practice their powers, but their bond breaks when Ben, angered by an insulting telepathic message, injures Anna. Later, Ben attacks and kills his abusive mother at home, leaving her body in the kitchen. His behavior becomes increasingly violent: he uses telepathic influence to make a neighbor attack a random man, and he later confides his control abilities to Ida. She doubts him until he forces her to climb onto a refrigerator, where she hallucinates a snake. Aisha confronts Ben after he telekinetically breaks another boy’s leg, leading to a fight that Ida stops. The girls decide to stop Ben to protect themselves and others. That night, their parents forbid Ida and Anna from leaving the apartment. Ben then kills Aisha directly by causing her to fall. Anna loses her speech in response.

Ben then tries to kill Ida and Anna by controlling a stranger, who fails to follow them into their home. Ida lures Ben to a highway overpass, pretending to play with a toy glider, and pushes him off the ledge. He survives the fall, and Ida realizes she is under his control when her surroundings turn dark and twisted. She runs into the road and is hit by a car; Ben wakes up screaming. Back home, Ida fears Ben will make her mother kill her and locks herself in the bathroom. Her mother leaves for the store, and Ida finds Anna has gone.