The Innocents (2016) - Anne Fontaine

Taking place in Poland during the winter of 1945, Anne Fontaine's The Innocents tells the story of Mathilde Beaulieu, a young French Red Cross doctor who is assisting the remaining French survivors of World War II. One cold afternoon, a Polish nun arrives in the hospital, begging Mathilde to come to her convent for reasons she won't explain.  On arrival, Mathilde learns of the advanced state of pregnancy among several of the sisters of the convent, victims of German and Russian soldier's sexual brutality.  Anne Fontaine's The Innocents is a balanced story about religion and humanism, touching on the hypocrisy and antihumanism of fundamentalist religion, while also making sure to comment on the state of opression religion can face from the state and the secular world.  The Innocents exposes how they are really two sides of the same coin, being a film that at its core is about humanism and the need for empathy and compassion.  The film is definitely compelling and has some powerful moments, but I'd be remissed if I didn't mention how dull it can be for stretches, mainly due to their being so many similar films before it, specifically when it comes to exploring the relationship between humanity and faith.  Mathilde's relation with one of the nuns is the emotional core of the film, with each character coming to a higher form of enlightenment and perspective thanks to their varying viewpoints when it comes to god.  These two characters have a higher appreciation for humanism after going through this powerful and somewhat tragic story of religious guilt, sexual oppression, and faith.  While the film does struggle with pacing and a tad of forced sentimentality towards the end, Anne Fontaine's The Innocents is a well told story of oppression, guilt, and humanism, touching on many similar ideas to the vast array of nun films before it, albeit doing so in a well crafted and thoughtful way.

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