Mathilde is a young French doctor with the Red Cross on a mission to treat Second World War survivors in Poland in late 1945. When a nun appears at the clinic one night seeking her help, she is brought to a convent where 30 Benedictine nuns live cut off from the world. She discovers that several are due to give birth, having been assaulted by Soviet soldiers. Unable to reconcile their faith with their pregnancy, the nuns turn to Mathilde, who becomes their only hope.

The Innocents is based on a remarkable true story about the crises of faith that emerge when a house of God is ravaged by war. This is a poignant story of birth and rebirth, shattered faith and female solidarity.