Fra venstre: Skuespillerne Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Rakel Lenora Fløttum og Mina Yasmin B. Asheim, ved siden av regissør Eskil Vogt og produsent Maria Ekerhovd under premieren i Cannes.

Eskil Vogt deltar i det offisielle sideprogrammet Un Certain Regard, som i utgangspunktet er en arena for mer eksperimenterende filmkunst enn i hovedkonkurransen. Og det kan virke som det er nettopp der De uskyldige hører hjemme. Mye av responsen fra kritikerne handler om hvor original den norske filmen er. De fleste kritikkene berører Vogts uvanlige innfallsvinkel til horrorfilm-sjangeren; hvordan han utfordrer våre forestillinger om hva en horrorfilm kan inneholde.

“Eskil Vogt constructs a whole new playground in compelling Un Certain Regard drama,” skriver Fionnuala Halligan i Screen Daily.

“The Innocents, a clever, engaging and often electrifying feature which straddles suspense and the arthouse in a tight and satisfying way…The film successfully weds three elements: a strong, original concept distilled through a smart screenplay; excellent child 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. All three gradually knit together, and successfully expand to fill the frame.”

Varietys kritiker Jessica Kiang er også imponert over barneskuespillerne og den atmosfæren Vogt og hans team pensler fram.

“This 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.

«In Ida, and particularly in Fløttum’s remarkably assured and self-possessed performance, Vogt finds a perfect avatar for his provocative yet persuasive ideas about the innocence (or otherwise) of children. Even as the horror elements escalate, and Ben develops a truly disturbing knack for dispatching his enemies in the most psychologically ruinous way imaginable, “The Innocents” retains its connection to the real world, as a parable about the thin line between good and evil on which these kids are testing their balance, as along a narrow verge or a crack in the sidewalk.”

Guy Lodge, som vanligvis også skriver for Variety, leverer en uforbeholden anbefaling hos Film of the Week:

“The specially gifted poppets of Eskil Vogt’s stylish, unnerving supernatural drama The Innocent look as harmless as Matilda, but turn out to be as dangerous as Carrie. As with Carrie, it’s not their fault — there’s just something bigger than their bodies at work in them, ready to burst out and change life as they, and we, know it. From a certain angle, The Innocents might be seen as a horror film; from another, it’s a lo-fi, unusually intriguing superhero origin story.”

“Vogt clearly knows children well: these aren’t the precocious, cute-on-cue kidbots you might see in a Hollywood version of this story, but plausibly real, moody human beings whose behaviour can be challenging even when it isn’t paranormal.”

Cineuropas Kaleem Aftab fremhever hvor stort register Vogt og filmen spiller på.

«There are so many elements that make this world so rich. The camera follows the kids into their own homes, which gives a window into Norwegian society, a world of rich and poor, and haves and have nots. The inclusive casting adds to the movie’s ambiguity and flavour – indeed, it’s interesting to see a Norwegian film where characters from all backgrounds come together. With the action taking place in mid-summer, cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen uses the sunlight to create ominous feelings thanks to the way it streams through windows, bounces off trees and lights up the figures.

“But more chillingly than any of the supernatural elements, the film throws in another question, one that haunts the viewer after the end of the credits, when it’s time to try to calm down and relax again: who are the innocents? Is it the children? The parents? Or the audience?”

Mer om De Uskyldige:

«Det er sommer og lange lyse dager. Men ikke alle drar på ferie. Fire barn blir kjent og sammen utforsker de blokkene der de bor og skogen rundt. Skjult fra foreldrenes blikk utvikler barnas uskyldige lek seg til noe mer. Uhyggelige ting begynner å skje.

Rakel Lenora Fløttum og Alva Brynsmo Ramstad spiller søstrene Ida og Anna som sammen med Ben (Sam Ashraf) og Aisha (Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim) oppdager ukjente og mørke krefter. Ellen Dorrit Petersen briljerer i rollen som søstrenes mor. Hun fikk Amandaprisen for beste kvinnelige skuespiller for Blind. I tillegg får vi se Morten Svartveit (Heimebane, Flukten over grensen), Lisa Tønne og samfunnsdebattant og journalist Kadra Yusuf debuterer som skuespiller i filmen.

De uskyldige er produsert av Mer Film ved Maria Ekerhovd. Den distribueres av Mer Film og får ordinær kinopremiere 27. august.

Stabsliste med noen sentrale funksjoner:

Foto: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen  Focus Puller: Tor Edvin Eliassen Gaffer Aslak Lytthans Klipper Jens Christian Fodstad Komponist Pessi Levanto Produksjonsdesign Simone Grau Roney Art Director Marius Winje Brustad Set Design Louise Andersson Props Master Karl Gunnar Schmidberger Karlsen og Victoria Wælgaard Kostyme Marianne Sembsmoen Make up Design Salla Yli-Loupa Lyddesign Gustaf Berger og Gisle Tveito Lydopptak Jesper Miller Lydmiks Gisle Tveito VFX Supervisor Esben Syberg og Ludvig Friberg VFX Artists Esben Syberg og Ludvig Friberg First Assistant Director Binne Thoresen Script Gjyljeta Berisha