79
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe lonely, uncanny and sometimes unthinkingly violent world of childhood is explored with chilling candor and exceptional skill in writer-director Eskil Vogt’s arthouse horror feature The Innocents.
- 90VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangThis superior chiller is both a satisfying genre exercise and a minute observation of the process by which young children acquire morality; its most striking aspect may just be the empathy Vogt displays for his 7- to 11-year-old stars, and the extraordinary juvenile performances that empathy brings out.
- 90The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSkillfully merging menace and sweetness (when Anna begins to speak, her parents’ delight is incredibly touching), The Innocents constructs a superbly eerie moral landscape, one that the children (all of whom are fantastic) must learn to navigate.
- 85TheWrapRobert AbeleTheWrapRobert AbeleVogt, with his second feature, has crafted a disturbing and original heart-pounder all his own, uncommonly attuned to the perspective of unsocialized prepubescents: how their feelings work, what their minds process, and why their worst moments may bring catharsis to them, but can look terrifyingly wrong to us.
- 80Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganThe Innocents successfully weds three elements: a strong, original concept distilled through a smart screenplay; excellent young performances; and a mise-en-scene which puts the audience in a child’s circular view of a very small world - tiny by nature of childhood itself, in which the smallest areas are unfathomably large, and also by circumstance on a self-contained housing estate.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshLos Angeles TimesKatie WalshThe film maintains a quiet dynamic even throughout the most horrific moments, and while you might expect, or even want, the film to climax more operatically, the understated tone is a radical choice.
- 75The A.V. ClubLuke Y. ThompsonThe A.V. ClubLuke Y. ThompsonChildhood is hard, and childhood grudges run harder. The Innocents pulls no punches in turning that fact into horror.
- 60Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzThe Innocents, writer and director Eskil Vogt’s horror film about children with supernatural powers, is definitely difficult to watch, a brutal bit of business. But the thrills aren’t cheap — they’re hard earned, if you can call them thrills at all.
- 58The PlaylistCaroline TsaiThe PlaylistCaroline TsaiMake no mistake: The Innocents is no young adult novel adaptation, and things get very dark very quickly.
- 50Slant MagazineWes GreeneSlant MagazineWes GreeneThe Innocents adopts a slasher-esque vibe that, however airlessly aestheticized, feels lurid for the sake of being lurid.