IFC Midnight acquired the Norwegian coming of age supernatural drama The Innocents, written and directed by Eskil Vogt for an expected release in 2022.

One of Scandinavia’s most acclaimed screenwriters for his collaborations with Joachim Trier, including Thelma, Louder Than Bombs, and Oslo, August 31, Eskil Vogt made his directorial debut with the 2014 Sundance and Berlin prizewinner Blind. His second feature as writer/director, The Innocents stars Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Mina Yasmin Bremseth Asheim, and Sam Ashraf alongside Morten Svartveit and Ellen Dorrit Petersen.

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.

Vogt made a splash at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival with two films, premiering The Worst Person in the World in competition with Joachim Trier and making his first directorial Cannes appearance with The Innocents in Un Certain Regard, where it caught the attention of critics for Vogt’s meticulous direction and the haunting performances by its young cast.

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.”