The lonely, uncanny and sometimes unthinkingly violent world of childhood is explored with chilling candor and exceptional skill in writer-director Eskil Vogt’s arthouse horror feature The Innocents.

Although clearly congruent with the dark themes and emotional dynamics Vogt has probed in his screenplays for fellow Norwegian Joachim Trier, Vogt’s own unique voice as a director emerges even more clearly with this sophomore feature, a follow-up to his playfully experimental drama Blind from 2014. (Vogt and Trier’s latest collaboration, The Worst Person in the World, plays in the main competition this year in Cannes, while The Innocents screens in the Un Certain Regard strand....