Best known for his Caméra d’Or-winning 2009 debut Samson and Delilah and 2017’s Sweet Country, Warwick Thornton’s latest film, The New Boy, which marked his return to the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, is a visually stunning, albeit narratively uneven work carried by newcomer Aswan Reid. Inspired by Thornton’s own experience of having grown up as an Aboriginal boy in a Christian boarding school, the film evolves from being understated and atmospheric to an incredibly tense and unsettling depiction of colonialism in Australia, a topic that Thornton has frequently depicted in all of his work.
Set in 1940s Australia in the middle of World War II, a backdrop that is underutilized, it revolves around the titular new boy (Reid), an 11-year-old Indigenous kid who remains nameless for a majority of the film. After being abducted by a horseback police patrol in the middle of the desert, the boy is dumped on the doorsteps of a remote monastery orphanage run by Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett). With the monastery’s priest having died the year before, which has been kept a secret from the rest of the community, Sister Eileen attempts to avoid drawing attention to the church with the help of two Indigenous colleagues, fellow nun and maternal figure Sister Mum (Deborah Mailman) and farmhand George (Wayne Blair).
From the onset, the boy is uninterested in becoming integrated in the group of orphans, choosing to sleep on the floor under his bed, eating with his hands, and not wearing a shirt or shoes. We learn that he has some sort of powers, but those abilities are unfortunately never given the space to be explored with much depth. When Sister Eileen puts a statue of the crucified Christ up in the church, the new boy develops a sudden fascination with it, so much so that he pierces his hands with nails to make his palms bleed and brings snakes to the foot of the cross as an offering. As a result, Sister Eileen turns to baptism as a solution.
Blanchett follows up her breathtaking, much-discussed performance in last year’s Tár with a rare return to Australian cinema, also serving as a producer on the project. An affecting turn as a fiercely protective nun struggling to reconcile her faith with the boy’s unexplained powers and unfamiliarity with the religion, Blanchett brings a vulnerability to this emotionally-charged and physical role as Sister Eileen’s hysteria grows as the film progresses. The standout, however, is Reid, who, in his acting debut, shines in a role that is almost entirely wordless and gives an expressive performance as the boy navigates the monastery’s colonial trappings.
Thornton, who is on triple duty here as cinematographer, screenwriter, and director, established himself as a master of visual storytelling long ago, and The New Boy is a perfect example of his distinct skill. The film is elevated by the strikingly poetic visuals of vast rural landscapes that highlight Australia’s natural beauty.
As the new boy’s fixation on Christ brings him closer to the world that has been forced upon him and made him adapt to a new atmosphere, the perpetrators are never portrayed as being in the wrong, leading to a muddled and vague final message that hinders the film’s emotional impact. Moreover, the incorporation of magical realism to depict the boy’s powers often takes us out of the story rather than aids it.
Though a flawed film that largely falters in its character building and storytelling, The New Boy is a compelling examination of faith and the impacts of assimilation. More than anything, the movie serves as a testament to Thornton’s bold voice as a filmmaker and the film’s incredible ensemble of performers.
