Aswan Reid is a revelation, but the movie isn’t much so.
“The New Boy” is a different kind of Australian drama that leaves us, the audience, unsure about the future of an Abnormal boy who still has his values, while adapting to a new religion. It feels like a classic film, regarding the tone and ambiance, and the ideas that come out of it are informative, but it doesn’t have the kind of development it deserves. It’s more of a breezy story than a wise examination.
It’s set in Australia in the 1940s, and tells the story of a nameless Aboriginal boy (Aswan Reid) who is placed at a remote monastery for Aboriginal orphaned boys. It’s run by the nun Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett, also a producer), who claims that it’s still run by a dead male priest and writes letters in his name. She also has strong support from other Aboriginal characters consisting of the other nun nicknamed Sister Mum (Deborah Mailman), who also happens to be a widow, and the helper George (Wayne Blair), who values his jams and marmalades. They also welcome the new boy, and at this point, he shall be nicknamed “New Boy.”
What they don’t know is that the New Boy has some special powers, ones in which he can control small balls of light and uses them to heal humans and animals. He also finds himself questioning his faith and loyalty to his heritage. And there are moments when a crucified Jesus statue draws his attention, and sees a stigmata in his own hands. So, this is when he tries to figure out if he should cross over to Christianity or keep his heritage in tact.
Speaking of which, the other orphans aren’t familiar with Aboriginal values, and are only taught about Christianity. The opening credits explain how the Australian Government had to separate Indigenous children from their parents and their culture, and how the churches were integral of this. And so, I was wondering how the film was going to play out the subject matter, but it doesn’t delve deep as much as it should have.
Writer/director Warwick Thornton (whose credits include his take on “Samson & Delilah” and “Sweet Country”) did mention in an interview: “Of course, this story brings with it the weight of a certain pocket of Australian history. Which always follows us and in a way, as a filmmaker, you always reference this part of Australian history in some way. But this movie is by no means a history lesson or a lecture.” I acknowledge that not every film can be a history lesson and I’ve praised films for taking different directions before. But this is such an interesting story that I would like more out of it.
I appreciate how “The New Boy” gives us a child protagonist who isn’t bratty, moody, nor generic. He’s a boy caught between two worlds, which, in this case, regards faith and culture, and Reid is quite exceptional. He’s barely says anything throughout the movie, except for a bad word at the wrong place and time, but we can still acknowledge his emotions and tone.
The Blanchett character doesn’t have the kind of character development she deserves, but at least her character is able to fool the delivery men into thinking that the dead priest is signing for the crucified Jesus statue. And we also see some fascination in Mailman and Blair’s characters, but their directions are pretty bland. They need to be as vibrant as the New Boy is, and he deserves to be the title character.
The movie is beautifully photographed by Nick Meyers and the score is set to the right ambiance by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. And the New Boy is placed at the right moments. He just needs to be placed with a wiser screenplay and direction.
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