He’s also a golden boy,literally and otherwise:his yellow hair is the colour of the surrounding wheat fields,so he could duck into them and hide forever. He knocks out a bully with a single blow,and from a Christian perspective could be called a miracle worker,though the label may not really be the right one. “I know what that boy is,” George says eventually. But he doesn’t spell it out.
Loading
Sister Eileen has her own complexities (not that Sister Mum or George are simpler,although this again is a conclusion we might jump to). The danger here is that Blanchett’s star presence might overpower everything else;at the same time,the film couldn’t possibly be what it is without her.
None of the cliches about repressed or neurotic nuns apply:where the new boy is largely silent,all the layers of Sister Eileen’s character are audible in her voice,which is bright and brisk in the manner of those accustomed to talking to children,but also carries the down-to-earth assurance of someone who enjoys being a leader and does it well.
The core of what happens inThe New Boy could have been told much more briefly,and its meaning,taken allegorically,is clear to the point of starkness. But the real drama is in Thornton’s style,always lyrical but never fluidly so:smoothness in this context would be impossible,since we’re never comfortably aligned with any one character.
Nor can we easily judge what perceptions they might share,any more than Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ sometimes too-richly orchestrated score binds everything together,or Blanchett,for all her virtuosity,is allowed to take full command.The New Boy is the story of an encounter,but one which in a sense never quite happens. What Thornton appears to be telling us is that the gaps remain.
The New Boy is in cinemas from June 6.
Find out the next TV,streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees.Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.