A group of children, including Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) and her older, autistic sister (Alva Brynsmo Ramstad), realize that they share a special telekinetic bond, but what happens when one of them has a cruel streak he can’t control? The same year as Eskil Vogt co-wrote the script for a brilliant comedy, The Worst Person in the World, he also made this horror thriller that turns children’s games into something terrifying; adults don’t realize what’s going on until it’s too late. Vogt takes his time telling the story, but tension is quietly and very effectively ramped up right until the final encounter in a playground where tremendous forces are unleashed. The kids are all terrific.
2021-Norway-Sweden-Denmark. 117 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Maria Ekerhovd. Written and directed by Eskil Vogt. Cast: Rakel Lenora Fløttum (Ida), Alva Brynsmo Ramstad (Anna), Sam Ashraf (Ben), Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim (Aisha), Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Morten Svartveit.
Trivia: Original title: De uskyldige. Petersen and Fløttum are mother and daughter also in real life.
European Film Awards: Best Sound Designer.Â
Last word: “It started as a result of having kids of my own and being witness to their fumbling attempts to make sense of the world. That triggered some childhood memories in myself. Not important memories, just random memories, and I realized how radically different you were as a kid, how strongly you felt, and how open you were and even how you experience time in a different way. I tried to get into that space again. It was also the fascination you have when you observe your kids, especially when they don’t know you’re there. Like you’re going to school to pick them up, and you see them before they see you, and they’re not like they are with you, they have a secret life.” (Vogt, Norwegian Film Institute)
