The New Boy
critic Reviews
, 76% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score- The New Boy bites off more than it can comfortably chew, but this heady exploration of faith and cultural tensions has an ethereal allure.
- , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreRandy MyersSan Jose Mercury News
What happens instead propels both on a spiritual, existential journey that challenges their beliefs. “The New Boy” explores those big questions but leaves it to us to find out the answers.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreJourdain SearlesRogerEbert.com
Newcomer Reid perfectly embodies the spirit of the film, making us feel his confusion and share his joy in the small moments where he’s allowed to be himself.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreBeatrice LoayzaNew York Times
Thornton, who briefly attended a Christian boarding school when he was a child, brings a textured perspective to this story of cultural violence and white guilt.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreMark KermodeKermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)
It's not the film you think it's going to be. It's far more transcendent than that.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreWendy IdeObserver (UK)
The pacing is languid to a fault and it all gets rather bogged down in allegory.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreJohn NugentEmpire Magazine
A gentle, odd little Australian fable. Warwick Thornton’s film has a lot of thoughts to process, and while they don’t always cohere, the performances from Blanchett and Reid keep it interesting.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreMorris YangIn Review Online
Although Thornton may have been more acclaimed for his brunt and brutal depictions of racism in Sweet Country, it’s the modernizing, reformist ideology in The New Boy that deserves better recognition for its vicious imprint on Australian history.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreRuth MaramisFlixChatter Film Blog
A beautifully shot film that offers powerful insights into the enduring sting of Aboriginal assimilation. Blanchett is always stellar, while Reid is impressive in his debut performance.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreAbbie BernsteinAssignment X
Handsome but slow tale of magic at a 1940s Australian Catholic orphanage.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreChristopher LloydThe Film Yap
Cate Blanchett is a tortured nun trying to protect an Indigenous boy in WWII era Australia, but the lad's spiritual truth doesn't align with her religious zeal in this allegorical rumination.
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