When a prison drama teacher marries one of the inmates, her son begins to wonder if the ex-con is still a criminal, or if he has actually been reformed. A film by Louis Garrel, starring Roschdy Zem, Anouk Grinberg, Noémie Merlant, and Louis Garrel.

Abel Lefranc (Louis Garrel), a tour guide at the aquarium, is frustrated. He has learned that his mother Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg), a former actress who is now a prison theater teacher, has fallen in love with Michel Ferrand (Roschdy Zem), one of her inmate students.

Even though Abel disapproves of his mother’s decision to marry Michel, he doesn’t want to upset her. He decides to attend the wedding ceremony held at the prison, where Michel is still serving his sentence. However, Abel doesn’t believe Michel is truly reformed. Determined to protect his mother, he sets out to find concrete evidence proving Michel’s criminal nature.

Later, Michel is released from prison. Sylvie and Michel decide to open a flower shop. Their spontaneous decision to rent a spacious place for the flower shop raises Abel’s suspicions about Michel. Where does Michel obtain money since he has just been released from prison? When asked, Michel tells Abel that he receives a special discount rental price from an old friend. Michel’s answer only deepens Abel’s suspicion.

Abel enlists Clémence Genièvre (Noémie Merlant), his close friend who also works at the aquarium as a diver, to stealthy-stalk Michel, following him wherever he goes and noting who he meets, in hope of finding solid evidence. However, their mission fails to find anything out of the ordinary. Until the day when the flower shop is officially open, as Sylvie’s friends come to congratulate her, Abel accidentally finds a gun in Michel’s leather jacket.

Michel, desperate to secure the flower shop rental fee, reveals he has agreed to a risky job: stealing crates full of caviar from a delivery truck. He’s meticulously planned the route, the stops, even the driver’s habits, but there’s one crucial element missing – a decoy to distract the driver while he cracks the truck open.

Abel and Clémence accept the €30,000 decoy job offered by Michel’s employer. The plan is for Abel and Clémence to pretend to be a couple having a fight in the diner to distract the driver’s attention while Michel and his team break into the truck and transfer crates of caviar into another vehicle. Unfortunately, when the time comes, everything doesn’t go smoothly as they have hoped.

Directed by Louis Garrel, from a screenplay written by himself, Tanguy Viel, and Naïla Guiguet, L’INNOCENT is an incredible crime comedy with thrilling twists and turns. Louis Garrel also stars in the leading role.

I love how the narrative unfolds. It opens with a detective story vibe, where a man tries to protect his mother from her ex-con lover. Then, it takes an unexpected comedic turn as the protagonist is instead propelled into the criminal world. The tension builds steadily, culminating in a twist-filled climax in the last 30 minutes of the film. The song selection is sublime, particularly Michelangelo’s Frescoes by Stelvio Cipriani in the slow-motion scene. It’s perfectly fitted.

Noémie Merlant, usually seen in dramas or thrillers, breaks out her comedic chops in this film. Her stellar performance naturally unleashes her charming side. No wonder she won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress.

L’INNOCENT premiered at Festival de Cannes on 22 May 2022. The film was theatrically released in France on 12 October. It received eleven César nominations in ten categories — including Best Film (César du meilleur film), Best Director (César du meilleur réalisateur), and Best Actor (César du meilleur acteur).

L’INNOCENT won Best Original Screenplay (César du meilleur scénario original: Louis Garrel, Tanguy Viel, Naïla Guiguet) and Best Supporting Actress (César de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle) for Noémie Merlant.