IFC Midnight has now obtained the US rights to Eskil Vogt’s chilling supernatural drama The Innocents, the sophomore film from the director of Thelma, and set a 2022 release date.
The film, which debuted at Cannes (2021), is “a dark and twisted morality fable that unfolds under the bright Nordic sun, The Innocents follows a group of young children who become friends during the summer holidays, drawn together by the discovery of mysterious shared abilities. Out of sight of the adults, the children bond quickly, exploring their newfound powers and testing their limits in the forests and playgrounds surrounding their brutalist apartment complex. As the children’s loyalties shift and small cruelties escalate, their innocent play takes a dark turn towards the malevolent, and strange things begin to happen.”
Arianna Bocco, President of IFC Films, said, “Eskil Vogt is one of the most exciting filmmakers working in Scandinavia today. He has developed a distinct voice through his many high-profile writing credits over the years, and it’s with much excitement that we are now able to partner with him on his second directorial feature THE INNOCENTS. Although the film explores horror on a more supernatural level, there is a deeply rooted story of the complexities of morality layered in between, which makes this the perfect fit for IFC Midnight.”
Director Eskil Vogt added, “I’ve been a long-time admirer of how IFC Films have championed independent and genre-bending cinema in an ever-changing marketplace. They have such a great and innovative team and I couldn’t be happier to work with them in unleashing THE INNOCENTS in the U.S.” Dave Bishop, CEO of Protagonist Pictures, said, “THE INNOCENTS is a brilliant and deeply unsettling film from a master filmmaker and we have no doubt that it will land with a punch. Our long-time friends at IFC are the perfect partners to connect Eskil Vogt’s stunning picture with U.S. audiences.”
The Innocents is set to be released in 2022 and will screen next at Fantastic Fest.
