Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Cyborg detective Batou is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by gynoids—doll-like cyborgs, which all malfunctioned, killed, then self-destructed afterwards. The brains of the gynoids initialize in order to protect their manufacturer's software, but in one gynoid, which Batou himself neutralized, one file remains: a voice speaking the phrase "Help me."
Innocence is a visually extraordinary achievement — Oshii's dense, painterly world-building and fluid integration of 2D and early 3D CG animation remains singular and arresting. The film's philosophical ambitions are formidable, stacking layers of Descartes, Milton, and Buddhist thought atop its gynoid murder mystery in a way that feels genuinely unique rather than decorative. Novelty is very high: no other film quite looks, sounds, or thinks the way Innocence does. Cinematography earns a 4 for its breathtaking festival parade sequence, meticulous production design, and Kenji Kawai's haunting score working in concert with every frame. The plot, however, is deliberately elliptical to the point of frustration — the mystery is almost beside the point, and some audiences find the philosophical dialogue more obscured than illuminating, keeping Plot at a solid 3. Voice acting is competent and restrained, fitting the cold, posthuman tone but not itself remarkable. The ending provides thematic closure on the 'what makes a self' question but resolves the narrative somewhat flatly, landing at 3.