Abel (Louis Garrel) meets his mother’s, Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg), soon-to-be husband, Michel (Roschdy Zem), at their jailhouse wedding, and he is less than impressed with this newest member of the family. After Michel’s release, things do not improve as Abel has a hunch that Michel is not as reformed as he claims to be. Following the ex-con around, he discovers that Michel is involved in one last heist, and Abel gets himself ensnared in a criminal underworld he is not at all prepared for. 

Louis Garrel, in addition to starring in, also writes and directs The Innocent with assistance on the page from Tanguy Viel. The film premiered at the 2022 edition of Cannes, and while it did not generate much buzz, The Innocent went on to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Lumiere Award and won the same title at the César Awards along with a slue of other nominations and wins for the cast across the European Awards bodies. The 109-minute comedic caper was later announced as one of the inaugural titles in the Janus Contemporaries line of home media which brought the title to audiences in the States. 

As the lead of the film, Garrel is not afraid to be used as a punching bag in support of the narrative. His girlfriend has died, he is working a dead-end job as a tour guide at the aquarium, and he seems totally dissatisfied – or disinterested – in where life has taken him. There is some budding chemistry between him and a childhood friend, Clémence (Noémie Merlant), but he is quick to shut down any whispers of it being anything more than platonic. Garrel, as should be expected given how many hats he wears in the production of the film, has a perfect grasp on the scrappy tone of the story that feels heavily inspired by the work of Steven Soderbergh with a dash of Robert Altman in how it shows a darkly exciting side to otherwise normal everyday people.  

The Innocents really struggles in the first and second acts, though, and that holds it back from being something great as it tries to set up all of its pieces for the big show that comes in the final act. It is not bad; it just lacks the energy required for a comic heist. Whole scenes are dedicated to setting up the twists and tools needed for the heist, and while a necessary element of these stories, it is so bluntly handled that there are few surprises in store come the third act. On the other side of that, though, Garrel’s script sets up many undelivered elements, not in a red herring sense, but he spends a lot of time on certain unique aspects of character that are never quite developed. It seems to be operating very much under the idea that the humor is in the details, and while Abel coaxing the children to correctly pronounce “Axolotl” or the inherent irony that the uncovered heist is for caviar given his profession at the aquarium is amusing, it leads nowhere and leaves the film feeling disinterested in what it setup and unfinished even in its final form.  

Garrel’s saving grace is that he does orchestrate a bombastic and engaging finale that brings all the elements and themes together, and together with his ensemble cast everyone is working towards the singular goal of seeing Michel’s plan go off so that he can finally retire from his life of crime. With much of this final action unfurling in a diner, it is incredibly entertaining as Abel and Clémence do their best to distract the caviar truck driver (Yanisse Kebbab) with their relationship antics while he takes a meal break. Invested in the drama of it all, the driver begins to take a more active role as Cupid, trying to mend the fractured faux-relationship that never was, but was also always present through the story which teeters The Innocent into the realm of romantic comedy as well. It is a zany, farcical topping off of a film that had grown sillier by the minute, but only now did it feel comfortable to embrace that aspect of its identity. 

As can often be the case when a project is led so singularly by an individual talent, things fail to come together as well as they should have, and the film is one that works better on paper. It is operating well in the theme of the moment as it seeks to unspool and resolve the knot of generation trauma and sins as Abel, Clémence, Sylvie, and Michel all follow parallel arcs with each other, and in doing something, gain an understanding for one another. Garrel strikes up a balanced ensemble, and Julie Allione’s casting really pays off to help create a colorful world for the events of the film. The Innocent, with its flaws, is still a promising film from an active talent who has clear ideas of the stories he wants to tell; there just seems to be a preciousness about it that unfortunately holds the film back from being what it could have been had it been a larger, more collaborative effort.