THE INNOCENT
| 2022 – 100′ – Comedy, Drama
Written by: Louis Garrel, Tanguy Viel, Naïla Guiget.
Directed by: Louis Garrel.
Starring Roschdy Zem, Anouk Grinberg, Noémie Merlant, Louis Garrel, Jean-Claude Pautot.
World Premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival 2022. North American Premiere at The American French Film Festival 2022.
In French with English subtitles.
A Janus Films release.|
Louis Garrel is in tip-top form with his zany, quick-witted heist movie, The Innocent. As usual, the director also takes on the role of the film’s protagonist, Abel, a devoted son who is up in arms when his mother decides to marry her soon-to-be ex-con drama student, Michel. Abel may not always have the best judgment, but he’s eager to protect is mom… which, given the movie’s affable, goofy tone, leads to a series of loopy schemes that are bound to go haywire. The film’s sparkling dialogue and inventive screenplay, built around the notion that the art of acting and the art of the con inevitably go hand-in-hand — that acting is essentially lying — provide its top-notch cast with all the ammunition they need to have a veritable field day. It also can’t help but leave the audience in stitches.