TIFF 2023: The New Boy Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

It’s a rarity nowadays to see Cate Blanchett go back to her native Australia to act in an Australian production but she has done so for The New Boy. Hearing her actually speaking with her real accent is nice to see as her star power definitely helps lift the film. That being said, the pieces are there though they ultimately outweigh their whole as succumbs to its own overambition. Packing in so many themes and ideas, they are never fully realized as the film is seemingly satisfied with sitting on the fence instead of truly saying what it wanted to say. On the surface, the story is about an unorthodox nun and her crisis of faith. However, the way it goes about it can be a little confusing for some in terms of focus and perspective. Whenever it focuses on Blanchett, the film was at its best. However, the split focus takes away from her and her performance which was easily the best part. Set in 1940s Australia at a shelter in the middle of the outback, the setting became another character in the story and was simply beautiful to behold.

The New Boy has undertones of the colonial legacy of the time but is centered around an Aboriginal boy (Reid) who found himself abducted by the local police and delivered to a rural monastery and shelter for abandoned children run by a nun named Sister Eileen (Blanchett). A kind and caring caretaker of the shelter and the children in her care, its ultimate goal was to convert the children to Christianity. Unsurprisingly, there was something different about this new boy. Not only did he not speak English, he seemingly refused to act in a civilized manner. However, he appeared to be fascinated by Eileen’s teachings. Setting him apart further, the boy manifested magical powers. Becoming increasingly fascinated with her teachings, a series of unexplained occurrences started happening which had Eileen questioning her faith. Though as the boy moved closer to Christianity, the more his power dissipated as he lost what made him special to begin with.

The performances, across the board, were fine with Cate Blanchett being Cate Blanchett as Sister Eileen. She clearly has the gravitas for the role but Eileen, like the other characters, were underdeveloped. Despite this, Blanchett pulls out more depth and was somewhat compelling to watch when it comes to her crisis of faith. Meanwhile, Reid’s role was more physical with minimal dialog but his vulnerability contrasted with his sense of wonder also worked. It’s just a shame that all of it did not amount to more than it did. 

In the end, The New Boy is a decent period character drama whose strong pieces never quite come together in a satisfying enough way.

*still courtesy of TIFF*

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.