Search - The Innocents on DVD

Satisfying piece of modern noir

J. Houzet | Chicago, IL | 08/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A fine looking pair of actresses, Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) and Mia Kirshner (Exotica), center the plot in this modern noir of two sisters who may or may not be serial killers.
A French music professor based in New York hits the road for some soul searching and ends up in a car crash in middle America that puts him in the hospital. As he recovers, his nurse (a luminous Connie Nielsen), becomes friendly with him and invites him to her home for a meal. There we discover her troubled background - a mentally unstable younger sister (Kirshner) and a father on his deathbed (cameo by Frank Langella).
The day after the professor plays his cello for the sickly man, he returns to find him dead. He watches the funeral from afar and continues his relationship with the mysterious sisters. They convince him to take them with him on a road trip that becomes filled with increasingly bizarre behavior by the sisters and encounters with other travelers with suspect motivations.
This was a worthy thriller with some good performances, especially Kirshner as the loopy younger sister who has to wear a wig because she tears her hair out. I sympathized with the character of the professor who is exposed to some terrifying situations and yet feels compelled to care for these two women. The actor was a good choice, even as a relative unknown."