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Our take
The New Boy is a slow, spiritual drama set in a wartime monastery that houses Aboriginal children. A child sits at the centre of mystical power, religious tension, and adult control, with moments of blood and eerie ritual imagery. Language is mostly mild, with a couple of s-words and an ugly slut insult in a charged adult beat. We land at 14 and up because child peril and colonial spiritual conflict ask for a patient, mature viewer
Uplifting themes
Compassion can challenge rigid doctrine when an adult truly sees a child. The film asks whether faith should protect people or control them Sister Eileen shows flickers of care and moral doubt. Authority around her often chooses institution over the boy Useful for older teens thinking about mission history, Indigenous spirituality, and how religion can shelter or harm. It is art-house history, not a textbook lesson
Story (may spoil tone)
In a remote monastery in 1940s Australia, a mission for Aboriginal 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.
What we flagged
Details
Violence Blood spurts and a kill command land in tense mission moments. Fighting…
Blood spurts and a kill command land in tense mission moments. Fighting is not constant, but the images stick because the setting stays quiet and intimate
Language A few s-words break the monastic hush. An adult also uses a harsh slut…
A few s-words break the monastic hush. An adult also uses a harsh slut insult in one charged exchange, which lands harder than the sparse swearing around it
Sex / nudity Religious talk of naked innocence and a forced kiss demand with a sexua…
Religious talk of naked innocence and a forced kiss demand with a sexual insult appear. There is no sex scene, but the adult beat feels uncomfortable beside the child story
Drugs / alcohol A rum-and-raisin treat is offered in a small domestic beat between nuns…
A rum-and-raisin treat is offered in a small domestic beat between nuns and boys. Alcohol is flavour in the mission kitchen, not a drinking story
Frightening Mystical power, crucifix imagery, and night-time delivery of a child bu…
Mystical power, crucifix imagery, and night-time delivery of a child build a sustained uneasy mood. The fear is spiritual and colonial, not jump-scare horror
Child peril / abuse An Aboriginal boy is delivered to a remote mission and lives under adul…
An Aboriginal boy is delivered to a remote mission and lives under adult religious control. His safety, identity, and body sit inside a system that treats him as a problem to manage
Bullying / discrimination Mission Christianity presses against Indigenous spirituality, and the b…
Mission Christianity presses against Indigenous spirituality, and the boy's difference is treated as a threat. Cultural erasure is the quiet engine of the conflict
Gore / death / weapons Blood drips and spurts break the stillness in a few scenes. Injury deta…
Blood drips and spurts break the stillness in a few scenes. Injury detail is limited but vivid against the spare setting
Mental health Adults wrestle with faith, guilt, and fear of what they cannot explain.…
Adults wrestle with faith, guilt, and fear of what they cannot explain. The boy's otherness is read as miracle or menace depending on who is watching
Grief / bereavement Separation from family and the cost of survival hang over the mission c…
Separation from family and the cost of survival hang over the mission children. Loss is felt more than spelled out in speeches
Flashing lights We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
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Talk after watching
- The mission wants the boy to fit its faith. How do you protect a child's culture when adults hold all the power?
- Sister Eileen is torn between doctrine and what she sees in the boy. When should rules bend for a person in front of you?
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The New Boy
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