The Innocents
Music Box Films | Release Date: July 1, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJun 30, 2016
A gripping psychological drama based on events more than half a century old, it has inescapable contemporary echoes. Laced with intensely emotional situations, it refuses to force the issue by pushing too hard. And it proves, yet again, that though moral and spiritual questions may not sound spellbinding they often provide the most absorbing movie experiences. Read full review
91
IndieWireKate ErblandJul 7, 2016
As much a film about crises of faith as it is the powerful friendships between women, The Innocents steadily unfolds over its nearly 120-minute runtime, revealing new secrets and new surprises (most of them, but not all, appropriately gut-wrenching) at every turn. Read full review
90
TheWrapClaudia PuigJul 17, 2016
Fontaine powerfully conveys the religious women’s inner torment, but with restraint, both visually and verbally. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirJul 1, 2016
Fontaine and cinematographer Caroline Champetier create many subdued and unexpected moments of simple humanity, or of what a more generous Catholic than the Mother Superior might call grace. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 30, 2016
Blistering. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJul 28, 2016
Shot in artful, quiet light (many of the frames look like elegant paintings), The Innocents is beautifully performed by its nearly all-female cast; each nun, even those unnamed, is given her own personality and story. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ellen BraitJul 15, 2016
The Innocents is a powerful, brave film that will stay with you for days. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonNov 14, 2016
Played with restraint and individuality by a fine ensemble, this is a moving but provocative study of belief, duty, compassion and acceptance. Read full review
80
Total FilmKate StablesNov 8, 2016
Based on a true story, it’s directed with beautiful, painterly restraint by Anne Fontaine (best known for pretty pieces such as Gemma Bovery), who lets powerful performances by Agata Buzek (as a nun of faltering faith), and fearsome abbess Agata Kulesza power the story. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeNov 7, 2016
It’s an emotionally involving rather than harrowing film, with scenes as beautiful as oil paintings. Read full review
80
Village VoiceApril WolfeJun 29, 2016
Where "Ida" takes a drearier, more realistic approach to the story, The Innocents, despite its dark focus on a group of women living in fear of getting repeatedly raped by their allies, actually has a mightier finish, something of a crescendo to cut through the quiet grief. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin ChangMay 11, 2016
Hope and horror are commingled to quietly moving effect in Agnus Dei, a restrained but cumulatively powerful French-Polish drama about the various crises of faith that emerge when a house of God is ravaged by war. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAug 3, 2016
This weighty French/Polish production is chock-full of moral dilemmas borne from its unthinkable scenario. At times, it’s not an easy experience. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 13, 2016
Half melodrama, half Holy Minimalism, mostly engrossing, the film is guided by the idea of two women moving slowly toward each other in friendship and understanding, one an atheist doctor and the other a worldly bride of Christ. Read full review
75
Washington PostPat PaduaJul 7, 2016
Through the example of friendship and cooperation, The Innocents shines a glimmer of hope on a period of great doubt. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJul 1, 2016
Veteran French director Anne Fontaine approaches a spiritually and emotionally complex real-life slice of history with deftness and understated drama in The Innocents. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneJun 28, 2016
Anne Fontaine's film is an allegory for women's condition more generally, in times of war or peace. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupMay 11, 2016
Despite an ending that is far too obvious and tidy, Agnus Dei is a moving drama about the struggle to keep one’s faith in the most difficult of situations. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanMay 11, 2016
Agnus Dei’s filmmakers ultimately embrace the sin of over-simplification. And audiences, grabbing for their tissues, will likely forgive them of it. Read full review
63
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJun 30, 2016
The actors bring emotional authenticity to the aftermath of trauma, but despite that and the handsome cinematography, there is also a persistent phoniness. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijMay 11, 2016
Directed by French director Anne Fontaine (Two Mothers/Adore, Coco Before Channel), this is another gorgeously appointed but also slightly overly formal film, with a muted emotional payoff that, while appropriate for the story’s convent setting, doesn’t exactly make for must-see cinema. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJun 29, 2016
Like many historical dramas, unfortunately, this one depicts gripping events without bothering to craft a coherent viewpoint that lends them meaning. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthMay 11, 2016
Director Anne Fontaine’s film is based on actual events and grapples with thorny questions that plague even the most zealous during times of crisis. It’s a pity, then, that this picture finds Fontaine compelled to find a resolution in a situation that seldom yields easy answers. Read full review
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