The Innocents, about a young couple who run away only to discover one of them has shapeshifting abilities, is the latest Netflix Original to hit the streaming platform. Check out our review!
The Innocents centers around the story of Harry and June, two young high schoolers who decide to reject their home life and run away together. With limited money and no real plan, this would’ve been difficult for any 16-year-old, but when June discovers she has the ability to shift into other people, their new life gets even more complicated.
If you’re looking for an action-packed drama with plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments, I wouldn’t recommend The Innocents. For the first five episodes, you’ll find yourself interested in the mystery being presented on screen, with the real dramatic moments only coming into play in the final five or 10 minutes of the episode.
It isn’t until you’re nearly done with the show, during episodes 6 through 8, that the action picks up and the series becomes truly engaging.
‘The Innocents’ review
For those of you who enjoy the slow build of a good mystery, The Innocents may be more your speed. From the pilot episode, this series poses quite a few questions. Why does June have this ability and how does it work? What does her father know and why did her mother leave her? How is Harry’s family connected? Are June’s powers something that need to be repressed or just better understood?
Though the show lacks in action, it presents an interwoven story where each character’s purpose is in service to the overall message. All of our main characters are connected in more than one way, and that’s what drives the mystery forward. You want to peel back each layer until you get to the central issue: June and her abilities, which are even more unique than others of her kind.
What makes The Innocents different than other shows about shapeshifters is that it doesn’t focus on werewolves — which is typical fodder in this day and age — but instead weaves a tale about skinwalkers, who have the ability to turn into other people instead of animals. I don’t want to give away too much of the origin of June’s powers, but suffice it to say that while we have seen this specific mythology come to life on screen in the past, it’s still a refreshing addition to the genre.
Much of the show is about Harry and June’s love for each other, which shouldn’t be discounted because of their age. They are certainly naive, but they’re also intelligent, resourceful, loyal, and trusting. While they often fall into life’s traps because of their innocence, as the title of the show suggests, they prove time and time again that they still know the difference between right and wrong. You want to root for them even while yelling at your screen for them to just return home already.
While Harry and June are transparent in their intentions, nearly every other character hides something from their friends, families, or colleagues, which means they’re also hiding it from us. Part of the act of peeling back those layers of mystery is finally figuring out who has been misrepresented, who deserves our sympathy, and who has been a wolf in sheep’s clothing the entire time.
More than having an unreliable narrator, this show has an unreliable narrative, which only supports the mystery and enhances those twists and turns.
The finale episode answers plenty of questions and resolves several story lines while leaving others open-ended. It’s clear by the final moments that The Innocents is hoping for a second season, and though this wasn’t my favorite Netflix Original, I would be interested in seeing more of Harry and June’s story. There’s certainly a lot left to tell.
If The Innocents does get renewed for a second season, I hope they decide to pick up the pace of the story. Now that the truth about June has been revealed, and more people know about her abilities, the stakes are higher than ever. Especially given those final moments.
I also hope the show dives deeper into the mythology of the shapeshifters. Different characters have different theories, and while I don’t need a definitive answer, I would love to learn more about the lore. Though this ability is rare, we’ve already met several women who are able to take on another person’s appearance. What new shapeshifters will June meet and how have they learned to cope with their powers?
The Innocents is binge-worthy in that if this show was airing weekly, I would have quickly lost interest. That said, they’ve capitalized on the cliffhanger, and the end of nearly every episode will have you saying, “Just one more,” knowing that you’ll still have to wait about 40 more minutes to get to the most interesting moments.