“Quirky, touching, and well-played fun,” THE INNOCENT opens April 7 at the Royal.

Part crime thriller, part family farce, Louis Garrel’s The Innocent shows with panache and pathos the dangerous lengths two men go for the women they love. Garrel stars as Abel, a museum educator and widower whose mother, Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg), marries Michel (Roschdy Zem), one of her drama pupils in the local penitentiary. Once on parole Michel tries to start a legitimate life for Sylvie’s sake but soon reverts to his old ways, with the suspicious Abel continually — and ineptly — spying on his stepfather until roped into one of the ex-con’s schemes. Noémie Merlant, wonderful as always, co-stars. We open the film April 7 at the Royal.

“Few caper comedies have this much heart, and few romantic dramas offer such an appealingly nutty plot.” ~ Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal

“A humanistic story wrapped in a fun, punchy exterior, much like the French synth-pop music throughout its soundtrack.” ~ Claire Shaffer, New York Times

“The Innocent is the first movie of Cannes 2022 to give me that belly aching, knee slapping laughter that I desperately needed.” ~ Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily