‘The Innocents’ Trailer Takes a Dark Look at Kids With Superpowers

IN the Marvel universe, a child discovering their powers might soon get a visit from Professor Charles Xavier to tell them everything is going to be fine.

In the European film The Innocents, however, discovering you have powers might be dangerous when there aren’t adults around to supervise – and maybe even if they are there, things could get ugly, as the trailer released today by IFC Midnight reveals.

Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm45yGSwArY

The trailer for The Innocents suggests a somewhat calm environment that blends the excitement of childhood discoveries with a permeating sense of dread, in which terrible things can happen at any moment.

And, judging by the footage, they do. While some of the kids discover their potentially dangerous abilities, some adults end up swallowed up by what their kids can do and are unable to stop them, which leads to terrible consequences.

On the more obscure and philosophical side, the story also seems to venture into dark turns as it questions the inherent nature of kids. Could they be evil if given the power to do so, or is the concept of good and bad taught by adults?

According to the report, The Innocents provides some “gruesome” answers to those questions.

The Innocents is directed by Norwegian filmmaker Eskil Vogt, who returns to the director’s chair seven years after directing critically acclaimed Blind. Vogt’s latest film premiered in Cannes last year, also to great critical acclaim.

He rose to prominence across film festivals after writing the script for celebrated films like 2006’s Reprise, 2011’s Oslo, August 31, and 2017’s Thelma, which he co-wrote with fellow filmmaker Joachim Trier.

In 2022, both Vogt and Trier became Oscar nominees for having co-written the script of The Worst Person in the World, a philosophical romantic comedy that premiered in theaters earlier this month.

Vogt’s film was also praised in 2021’s Fantastic Fest, which awarded the filmmaker the Best Direction prize for his work on The Innocents.

Vogt also revealed that the story came to him because of his infant kid.

“I had the idea for this movie when I was walking with my son, who was about 6 at the time, and I thought: OK, if a dragon landed next to us now, I would go mad because dragons don’t exist, they’re not part of any concept of the world I believe in. But he would go, ‘Oh cool, a dragon.’ Because he expects the universe to keep expanding. […] What I find fascinating with kids is that they that can experience really extreme stuff and be scared to death, and then they’re like, ‘Oh I have to go home for dinner.’”

The atmospheric thriller premieres in selected theaters and on demand on May 13. (source: collider.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)