Eric (Timothy Lee) is an innocent and shy teen from Hong Kong, whose family emigrates to Toronto primarily for financial reasons, but also because they didn't like his friends back home. He tries to adapt to the new Canadian culture and the very different approach to education, while dealing with his homosexual crushes on his hunky cousin (despite the fact the cousin has a girlfriend), a classmate, a band member, and eventually an illegal immigrant who is working at his family's restaurant. Eric also meets a much older man, with whom he has an affair, but the man's former boyfriend returns and he bows out. His parents are superficial and lack affection for each other. Family life is not stable, his father and mother eventually separate, after keeping Eric and his sister in the dark about what was going on. All the deception he experiences at home causes him to be deceptive about his true feelings with others, distancing him from his family and causing him disappointment and pain. But he tries to be happy and the prevailing tone of "Innocent" is hopeful rather than depressing. The ending is abrupt and ambiguous as the film slows and stops without resolution.
This movie is relevant on many levels addressing the issues of family bonding after migration to another country, sexual coming of age of a young man without support systems, mixing of cultures at polar opposites, and coping in a strange land without adequate preparation. It handles the sexual encounters Eric has with taste, yet still captures the erotic tension of a young gay man's journey of self discovery. Kevin Poon composed the original music, and the film was written and directed by Simon Chung, his first feature length motion picture. DVD extras include two earlier gay-themed shorts by Chung, commentary by him and Timothy Lee, a photo gallery, and trailers.
