Name: The Innocents (2016)
Genre: Drama, World Cinema, Festival & Independent
Released: 2016
Duration: T1H55M
Cast: Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Vincent Macaigne, Joanna Kulig

Trailer

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During the aftermath of WWII, Mathilde (Lou de Laâge), a young doctor, is urged to visit a local Polish convent. There she finds a nun in labour, and hears other grim tales from other sisters, many of whom still cannot face their own pregnancy, with the army responsible now having disappeared.

"Based on true events, this thrilling drama will have you on the edge of your seat to see what happens. Superlative director Anne Fontaine, who brought us Adore (2013 Sundance Film Festival) and Coco Before Chanel, is at her best when transporting us to intimate worlds of women courageously crossing verboten boundaries." (Sundance Film Festival)

2016Rating: M, Mature themes and sexual violence115 minsFrance, PolandFrench, Polish and Russian with English subtitles

DramaWorld CinemaFestival & Independent

All Reviews (11)

Director:: Anne Fontaine ('Coco avant Chanel')
Writer:: Pascal BonitzerAnne FontaineSabrina B. Karine
Cast:: Lou de LaâgeAgata BuzekAgata KuleszaVincent MacaigneJoanna KuligEliza RycembelAnna PróchniakKatarzyna DąbrowskaKlara Bielawka

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The Innocents (2016) / Reviews

Flicks, Liam Maguren

You’ve never seen a World War II film like this before. Based on actual post-war events, The Innocents follows a Polish convent housing several pregnant nuns – victims of an “indescribable nightmare” – who are due to give birth. They cannot turn to a local doctor, for the nuns would be evicted and disgraced. They cannot turn to a Russian doctor, since their soldiers caused this unspeakable horror. Their only hope – aside from God – is a French Red Cross doctor who must keep their secret.

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Variety

Hope and horror are commingled to quietly moving effect in The Innocents, a restrained but cumulatively powerful French-Polish drama about the various crises of faith that emerge when a house of God is ravaged by war.

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Total Film

Echoes of Ida and Of Gods and Men sound in its stark, unsparing theme of war battling with belief, despite the odd hopeful plot twist.

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Time Out

An emotionally involving rather than harrowing film, with scenes as beautiful as oil paintings.

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The New York Times

"The Innocents" weaves several narrative strands into a complex of themes that sometimes pull against one another.

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The Guardian

It pales in comparison with, say, Paweł Pawlikowski's Ida. Yet it is fervently and strongly performed.

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Sydney Morning Herald

Through the events of the story, values are questioned, authority challenged and the whole system forced to reshape itself.

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Stuff

A sensitive, snow-laden fable which captivates until its final frames.

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Los Angeles Times

"The Innocents" soars above its seeming contradictions.

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Hollywood Reporter

What thus remains is a film that looks painterly and features solid performances but which lacks a key that would unlock the emotional, spiritual and ideological mysteries that hide behind this unfocused retelling of the facts.

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Empire Magazine

Played with restraint and individuality by a fine ensemble, this is a moving but provocative study of belief, duty, compassion and acceptance.

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