The Innocent 2023

Sylvie Lefranc, Anouk Grinberg, a prison theater teacher, meets and marries Michel Ferrand, Roschdy Zem, one of the inmates she teaches. Their union stirs unease in Sylvie’s adult son, Abel Lefranc, Louis Garrel, a man already shaped by a troubled past and guilt over a car accident that claimed his wife Maud, Olga Amelchenko. The memory of that tragedy hangs over Abel as he grapples with his mother’s new life behind bars, and the shadow of his own mistakes colors every family conversation.

When Michel is released, he and Sylvie plan to open a flower shop, using premises he claims were provided to him by a friend as a favor in return for past help. Yet Abel remains wary about Michel’s motives, unsure what deeper schemes might lurk behind the gesture. To keep an eye on the situation, Abel enlists his best friend and aquarium coworker Clémence Genièvre, Noémie Merlant, hoping she can provide a discreet second opinion. Their initial attempts at spying on Michel prove fruitless, but the warning signs keep piling up.

Michel then reveals a complex, dangerous arrangement aimed at paying back the favor: he and an associate, Jean-Paul, Jean-Claude Pautot, plan to steal a shipment of caviar from a truck while its driver is distracted at a restaurant. The plan hinges on timing—the truck driver’s routine must be exploited so that the theft can occur with minimal risk. Michel suggests Abel could participate and share in the profits, offering an enticement that pulls Abel deeper into the scheme, and Abel, in turn, brings Clémence into the plan.

Michel explains the logistics: the driver has a predictable pattern, including a regular restaurant stop. To ensure the driver stays long enough for the heist, Abel and Clémence are tasked with staging a convincing domestic quarrel right in front of the driver, compelling him to linger and watch the unfolding drama. The ploy works, and the trio advances toward the target. What begins as a calculated distraction gradually becomes a genuine connection between Abel and Clémence, who find themselves confiding in one another and admitting mutual romantic feelings amid the tension of their dangerous undertaking.

The plan meets a jolt when two masked men appear on the scene, and it becomes clear that Jean-Paul intends to double-cross Michel and walk away with the caviar. In a tense sequence of action and quick decisions, Abel and Clémence manage to rescue Michel and secure the cargo, but not without consequences: Michel is shot in the leg during the escape. The trio’s escape leads to a hospital confrontation, where Sylvie confronts Michel about the lies and the danger he dragged Abel into, and she leaves without another word, her silence a stark counterpoint to the chaos of the criminal plot.

Back at the delivery point, Abel goes to hand over the caviar to Michel’s client, but police intercept him. He refuses to name his accomplices, accepting the consequences, and is sent to prison. While behind bars, Abel marries Clémence, with Sylvie present at the ceremony, a scene that underscores the fragile ties binding the family to one another. In the meantime, Michel, still free, writes a letter to Abel’s family, noting that Sylvie continues to refuse to speak to him but expressing a stubborn hope that she might reconsider someday. The story closes on a note of unresolved longing and the complicated intersections of love, loyalty, and crime, leaving the future of this fractured family open to possibility and doubt.