The Innocent

We were delighted to previously screen this film but we have no current plans to screen it again. If you'd like to watch it in the cinema, consider a private hire to watch it with friends. That does rely on the film being available for private purchase.

Film details

Film TitleThe Innocent
Suitability
Genre
Length99mins
Year2022
CountryFrance
DirectorLouis Garrel
ActorsLouis Garrel, Roschdy Zem, Noémie Merlant, Anouk Grinberg, Jean-Claude Pautot, Yanisse Kebbab, Léa Wiazemsky, Manda Touré, Olga Amelchenko, Romain Blachier, Zorah Ait Maten, Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat, Joséphine Caraballo, Véronique Kapoyan, Florent Masarin
LanguageFrench
AKAL'Innocent
Showings

The story centres on Sylvie, a nearly sixty-year-old woman who has fallen in love with Michel, a thug she marries in prison. The two of them dream of starting again with a clean slate by opening a flower shop. But Sylvie’s son Abel, convinced that Michel will fall into a life of crime, disapproves of this relationship…

The Innocent is a cinephile treat, a nostalgic mash-up of Bob le flambeur (1956) and Bringing up Baby (1938) cast in the mid-70s aesthetic of Night Moves (1975). Riffing on the classics while refusing to slide into pastiche or parody, it plays it straight – unlike its hero – and emerges stronger for it.

This film is a slightly slipperier customer than a topline summary would suggest, with tonal shifts that shouldn’t work, but somehow do.