The New Boy

Presented in the Un certain regard selection at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Indigenous Australian director Warwick Thornton‘s The New Boy is a critically acclaimed historical drama rooted in the Aboriginal experience. The arrival of the ‘new boy’ (newcomer Aswan Reid) unsettles the monastery, but enlivens Sister Eileen’s (Cate Blanchett) fervour for Christ to be his guide, and as his Indigenous spirituality clashes with Sister Eileen’s teachings, she must make a choice: uphold tradition or embrace what comes next…