The New Boy

2023

Action / Drama / Fantasy / History

12
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 76% · 68 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 38%
IMDb Rating 5.7/10 10 1920 1.9K

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Plot summary

In a remote monastery in 1940s Australia, a mission for Aboriginal children is run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen. A new charge is delivered in the dead of night – a boy who appears to have special powers. When the monastery takes possession of a precious relic, a large carving of Christ on the cross, the new boy encounters Jesus for the first time and is transfixed. However, the boy’s Indigenous spiritual life does not gel with the mission’s Christianity and his mysterious power becomes a threat. Sister Eileen is faced with a choice between the traditions of her faith and the truth embodied in the boy, in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.

Director

Warwick Thornton Photo
Warwick Thornton

Top cast

Cate Blanchett Photo
Cate Blanchett as Sister Eileen
Andrew Upton Photo
Andrew Upton as Firefighter
Wayne Blair Photo
Wayne Blair as George
Deborah Mailman Photo
Deborah Mailman as Sister Mum
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.04 GB
1280*534
English 2.0
M
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 56 min
Seeds ...
2.14 GB
1920*800
English 5.1
M
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 56 min
Seeds 2
1.04 GB
1280*534
English 2.0
M
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 56 min
Seeds ...
2.14 GB
1920*800
English 5.1
M
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 56 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

Set against a backdrop of a strongly colonial

Set against a backdrop of a strongly colonial and white Australia, we are rather violently introduced to a young, blonde, Aboriginal lad (Aswan Reid) who is conked out by a boomerang and awakens to find himself in the care of "Sister Eileen" (Cate Blanchett) and "Sister Mum" (Deborah Mailman) at a remote orphanage. She is pretty devout and he is very much in tune with nature - both people of faith, but not the same kind. The arrival of a large wooden crucifix to top their altar seems to focus both of them on what now becomes a rather dry and simplistic tale of spirituality. Reid does come across well. There is a spontaneity and naturalness to his performance, but Blanchett over-eggs just about all of the rest of it. She does this type of role well - shorn hair, manic eyes, slightly eccentric characterisation - but here there's just not enough story for her (or us) to get the teeth into. I got the sense that there was something almost "Oliver Twist" about the lad. Blonde? Sent away? Did he have a secret identity? That's not the story, though - and when he suffers his own rather personal misfortune at the end, I felt a rather overwhelming dislike of "Eileen" and her superstition-ridden church. Too be fair, this isn't a film that doesn't provoke a response - but with sparse dialogue and little character development, it's not really much more than a beautifully photographed vehicle for Blanchett to indulge herself and for Reid to be a boy facing a confusing future.
Reviewed by glenaobrien 7 / 10

Caught between two spiritual worlds

Warwick Thornton's new film is a moving meditation on what it means to be caught between two cultures and the challenges of trying to bridge incommensurable spiritualities. Aswan Reid is the unnamed 'new boy' a nine-year old new arrival at a remote mission in 1940s South Australia, led by Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett).

The new boy is a 'clever man' with the spiritual powers of his own Indigenous culture and a fascination for the Catholic spirituality he encounters at the Mission. This interest is interpreted by Sister Eileen as a conversion (with the miraculous overtones of bearing the stigmata) but the new boy's baptism leads to a disruption in the emerging 'two-ways' connections between Indigenous and Catholic spirituality.

The film is shot beautifully by Thornton who also writes and directs this semi-autobiographical film (though relocated to an earlier time period than his own). There is a scene where the new boy is running a foot race, goes beyond the finish line, and just keeps running. Sister Eileen calls out 'Come back!' while Aboriginal work-hand George (Wayne Blair) calls 'Keep going!' This litany continues for some time and serves as an interesting metaphor for the situation of so many caught between Blackfella and Whitefella worlds.

Deborah Mailman offers good support as 'Sister Mum' and all the boys offer good naturalistic performances. It's refreshing to see a film about dispossession and colonisation where genuine kindness and compassion is on display rather than straightforward cruelty and abuse. While it doesn't quite have the power of Thornton's other films, such as Samson and Delilah (2009) or Sweet Country (2017) it confirms his reputation as one of Australia's best film makers.

Reviewed by SnoopyStyle 6 / 10

try it

It's 1940's in the Australian outback. An Aboriginal boy is captured by the police and sent to an orphanage run by Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett). Everybody is hiding the fact that the priest who is supposed to be running the place, is in fact dead.

The movie is definitely trying to do something interesting. I applaud the attempt. I don't know if it's actually a good movie. It starts with a bang and then it becomes a murky flight of spirituality and identity. I like the kid and one can't do much better than Cate Blanchett. It's worth a try to see this once if you can stay with it all the way to the end. I won't be seeing it again.

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