Year:  2023

Director:  Warwick Thornton

Rated:  M

Release:  July 6, 2023

Distributor: Roadshow

Running time: 116 minutes

Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

Cast:
Cate Blanchett, Aswan Reid, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair

Intro:
… led by stellar performances, The New Boy provides plenty of entertainment, and shows why Thornton is one of Australia’s most exciting directors.

Seven years after his last film, Sweet Country premiered at Venice, Warwick Thornton is back with the much-anticipated The New Boy, which screened at Cannes and recently opened the Sydney Film Festival.

Featuring a star turn by producer Cate Blanchett, and based on Thornton’s own experiences as a child sent to a Christian boarding house, The New Boy follows Sister Eileen (Blanchett), a nun in charge of a mission for Indigenous children in the South Australian outback in the 1940s.

Sister Eileen has complete control of the boys and the monastery, which we learn is because she covered up the death of its previous owner, together with her staff George the handyman (Wayne Blair) and Sister Mum (Deborah Mailman).

However, the arrival of a new, nine-year-old orphan (newcomer Aswan Reid) on her doorstep, who is unlike any of the other children, and appears to have supernatural powers, turns Sister Eileen’s world upside down.

It is here that the film heads into magical realism territory.

While initially unsure of what to make of her newest charge, whom she calls ‘The New Boy’, at first offering him preferential treatment, Eileen decides that the child must be converted to Christianity. Despite not fitting in with Sister Eileen’s rules, The New Boy becomes obsessed with a carving of Christ on the cross.

As she gets closer to the child, Eileen begins to question her faith and entire existence.

There are many strengths to Thornton’s seventh feature. Chiefly, the young group of first-time actors who headline the film are excellent, particularly Aswan Reid.

These performances are aided by Thornton’s striking cinematography, and the terrific, haunting score of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, both of which add to the ruggedness of the rural South Australian setting.

But it is the added presence of Blanchett which gives the film cachet.

The New Boy has been almost 20 years in the making for Thornton, who has mainly worked on television in recent years. Thornton had originally intended for the part of Sister Eileen to be for a male character and actor.

After lobbying from Blanchett, he agreed to change the gender of the role to female, and the two devised the film together.

The feature is not without drawbacks. It unnecessarily dawdles for bits of its two-hour runtime, and one wonders if it would be better suited to a shorter duration.

Nonetheless, led by stellar performances, The New Boy provides plenty of entertainment, and shows why Thornton is one of Australia’s most exciting directors.

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