Acclaimed Australian writer/director Warwick Thornton (Sweet Country) continues to explore his nation's fraught colonial history with
The New Boy. The film stars Cate Blanchett as Sister Eileen, a nun in charge of
a remote mission for indigenous children in 1940s Australia. When a young
boy (Aswan Reid) in her care begins to display supernatural powers,
Sister Eileen is forced to question her allegiance to her church.
Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair also star, with a score
composed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
The New Boy is in UK/ROI cinemas from March 15th.
Check out the trailer and poster below.
The official synopsis reads:
In a remote monastery in 1940s Australia, a mission for Indigenous Australian 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.
