The Trailer:
Cast: Sophie Lane Curtis, Kelly Reilly, & Linus Roache
Synopsis: A young girl, Beckett (Sophie Lane Curtis), and her father, Miles Warner (Linus Roache), move to New York where she begins attending a posh prep school with a dark secret.
I admit, I may not be the intended audience for this movie, and for that reason I think I may be a little biased in my opinion of the movie; biased in the fact that I may be too old to be intrigued by it. I mean, the PG-13 rating should've given me an idea of the wholesome-package that Innocence tries to wrap itself in. Within the first ten minutes it is clear that the teachers are strange and will become the villains later on. And in case you missed the not-so-subtle hints, everything is practically spelled out for us later. The way the movie is directed and written, it seems like it was made by Lifetime. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Lifetime movies, but they're all mostly corny, over-exaggerated, silly movies. Especially the "horror" movies made by Lifetime. Which basically equates to: this movie is lame. Everything just happens too fast for no reason and all the characters are just limply saying lines. Beckett, for example, is probably the most annoyingly apathetic characters to ever grace the movie screen. The whole time she seems so disinterested and just so blah that I was actually hoping for her character to die at the hands of the teachers. She smiles maybe once or twice throughout the entire movie, and only in passing. Ugh, instantly annoyed. And just the fact that everyone, namely Beckett's father, is so oblivious to everything that is going on around them screams "PARENTS JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND! SO YES I, THE APPARENT HEROINE, MUST FIX WHAT THEY REFUSE TO SEE", too teen angsty for me. Like, why was Beckett's father, Miles, not questioning the school nurse, Pamela (Kelly Reilly), and her strange sudden taking to Beckett. Her relationship with Beckett is too close and weird that I was left with a giant question mark over my head. Actually all the characters are dumb. Because then we have Beckett's friend, Jen (Sarah Sutherland) as the classic, clichéd outcast bad girl reminiscent of the early 2000's— which actually lead me to believe that this movie was made in the early 2000's— and really just comes off as foolish and overplayed. Further on Miles, Beckett's dad, his acting is so forced and quite laughable actually. There is a scene where is angry at Beckett for staying out too late and while he is yelling at her he wags his finger in his face and I swear he is on the verge of laughing at how ridiculous he knows he must look. This is disappointing, because I know that Linus Roache is a good actor and he really could've added some more dimension to the character. I believe the only commendable performance is probably Kelly Reilly, but it's still nothing to talk about. Moving on. There's also too many questionable things that occur that I have to stand up and say "MY SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF CANNOT STRETCH THAT FAR, ARE YOU INSANE?". I will give a few examples, but within the movie there are plenty more. One, The fucking school counselor prescribes medication to the students. What? In what school system is that even okay? None! Two, I mentioned before the inappropriate relationship Pamela has with Beckett, but let me give a little more detail. The whole movie seems to happen over the course of a couple of weeks, so the fact that Pamela, the school nurse, is already in a relationship and living with Miles and Beckett by the middle of the movie, is so bizarre. And how Pamela became involved with Miles is by her constant visits to check up on Beckett. I don't know, but if I were a parent I would be worried about why the school nurse is so concerned with my child. Maybe that's just me. !!!Spoiler Alert!!! Three, after we discover that the teachers are in fact villainous vampires (immortals? I don't know it's never really explained, but the gist is that they need to drink a virgin's blood to keep their immortality), we can inquire that they've been doing this for quite some time—since the opening of the school— yet no one ever questioned why so many young girls were dying over the years? !!!Spoiler Alert Over!!!
After watching Innocence, I found out that it is based on a young adults novel by the same name, which is supposedly more of a psychological thriller (I've never read the book, just the reviews for it) but this film adaptation didn't even touch on that idea, or barely. In the end, this isn't much of a horror or a drama or a fantasy as IMDb labels it. It's just a bore with no suspense and no guessing in the least. From the very beginning of the movie we know what's going to happen. But I guess points for effort. Would I watch it again? Hell no!
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