THE INNOCENTS Trailer

Child’s play becomes a nightmare in The Innocents, the latest from writer/director Eskil Vogt.

With summer in full swing, the children of a Nordic town take to the woods to wile away their free time. Far from the prying eyes of adults they play, grow close, and discover in each other similarities no one can explain. Each kid has a unique power, and while their discovery is at first used used to amuse themselves, they eventually turn their attention to the adults and their town, wreaking havoc like only children can.

The fear of children has a long history in cinema, particularly when kids have supernatural powers they can’t understand the ramifications of. In fact, the premise is not dissimilar to a movie Vogt wrote with his longtime writing partner, Joachim Trier, Thelma. That featured a protagonist who was a bit older than the kids in The Innocents, but the concept of having urges you aren’t ready for and the power for them to go wildly wrong is similar enough that Vogt should be ready to step into the director’s chain with his own spin on the subject.

A film about kids means heavy reliance on child actors, which always adds an unknown factor going in. Vogt ups that by getting kids who’ve never acted before, with Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Sam Ashraf, and Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim all starring as the main group of kids.

With the kids under the direction of something like Vogt, though, the film hardly seems like a gamble. Vogt and Trier have written some of the best scripts of the last 15 years, and with Vogt already showing he can direct with 2014’s Blind, The Innocents seems like a sure bet.

The Innocents is directed by Eskil Vogt and stars Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Sam Ashraf, and Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim. It will be released in the US on May 13th and in the UK on May 20th. For international release dates, click here.

Are you curious about what the kids can do? Let us know in the comments!