Review: Innocence

165. Innocence
"Innocence" mires itself so deeply in a drab and murky atmosphere that it is very difficult to identify where many of its shortcomings come from and who is responsible for them.

I did like that the film made a serious attempt at creating atmosphere. It took the slow-burn approach to horror, which I appreciated. The film is about a girl, Beckett (Sophie Curtis), who moves into New York City with her father and starts attending a new school, all following the accidental death of her mother. Things at the school turn out to be more ominous than they at first appear. For at least the first half of the movie (probably more), the plot advanced at a lackadaisical pace, setting the mood through somber musical cues, a perpetually washed out picture, and the occasional attempt at a "jump" scare.

The problem is that when it does come time for the plot to pick up, the filmmakers remain so committed to maintaining that atmosphere that it holds everything else back. To be fair, the plot isn't anything great to begin with. It's clear where it's going from early on, and there are very few deviations from this path. The film's adherence to keeping up this dark, brooding atmosphere is so great, in fact, that I'm unable to decide if many of its problems are in fact issues in their own right, or misguided attempts to reinforce the mood. The biggest of these problems is Curtis' lead performance. She mumbles her way through the film (though admittedly remaining audible at all times), her eyes often downcast and her shoulders frequently slumped. It reads as an understated "dramatic" performance and actually works well for the first chunk of the movie. When the situation becomes more desperate, however, her energy level does not increase to match. Her line deliveries are still those of a mildly depressed teenager, and her face never truly emotes. I have no idea if this is her fault, or if the director is responsible for directing her to give a somber performance to match the film's tone. This, and some other more technical decisions result in the film feeling as if it is in a period of stagnation even while its plot is advancing towards a conclusion.

That conclusion isn't anything to write home about, either. As with the bulk of the film, it manages to be unexciting even when dealing with imminent human sacrifice. One plot thread is abruptly dropped, leaving an important character's fate uncertain. The film ends very abruptly once the final "battle" is resolved, taking only time enough to leave us with a final twist that's as clichéd as it is predictable.

"Innocence" didn't do the best job at setting up a strong, ominous tone, but I did like that they made the effort. Sadly, the filmmakers must have felt they'd established a stronger atmosphere than they had, and struggled to maintain it all costs. And those costs were heavy.

C-