Innocence

Innocence is set in an isolated boarding school hidden in a forest, where young girls live cut off from the outside world. New arrivals, including six-year-old Iris, are brought in coffins. The pupils wear identical white dresses and are distinguished only by the colour of the ribbons in their hair, which darkens as they grow older. Their days are given over to dance, physical education and natural science under the guidance of teachers such as Mademoiselle Eva and Mademoiselle Edith. Obedience governs the school, and the older girls receive lessons that mark their passage toward adulthood, while unexplained sounds and comings and goings hint at something concealed within the grounds.

The film is Lucile Hadzihalilovic's first feature as director, and she also wrote the screenplay, drawing on Frank Wedekind's novella Mine-Haha. It stands at the start of a filmography that continues with Evolution, Earwig and The Ice Tower. Zoé Auclair plays Iris, with Bérangère Haubruge as the older pupil Bianca, Marion Cotillard as Mademoiselle Eva, Hélène de Fougerolles as Mademoiselle Edith and Lea Bridarolli as Alice. The production was a European and Japanese co-production involving companies in Belgium, Britain and France.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.8 from around 7,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4 from roughly 150 votes, suggesting a modest but steady viewership.