Coming-of-age adaptation with no style, perspective, or palpable personality.
When stepfather figure Lyle (Travis Fimmel) asks young Eli (Auden Ryan) why he cries so much and the Eli responds, “I don’t know why, I just have so many tears inside me”, I cringed for everyone involved, and for everyone who has championed this apparently lauded limited series.
It’s one thing to tell a coming-of-age story from a child’s point of view; it’s another when the mise-en-scène tells us nothing more than a child can see or understand.
From over-expository voiceover, stilted dialogue, and collapsible storytelling structure, to line readings which thread no needles cosplaying as performances, showcased by cinematography and editing which are perfectly serviceable for a product TV commercial yet are almost afraid to tell the actual story here, Boy Swallows Universe squanders opportunities for real storytelling in every department.
The lack of style, perspective, or any palpable personality in Boy Swallows Universe feels embarrassing. The actors are doing what they can with what they have, and the most objectionable performances raise the question of how much of that is on the direction and the writing, how much of that is on its adaptation from the book by Trent Dalton, and how much of that is on the tradition of Australian productions typically fearful of taking swings, even after it’s been demonstrated time and again that big swings in Australian cinema pay off internationally.
Further Viewing
By contrast, just to prove it can be done, and it can succeed, here’s an Australian film which hinges entirely upon perspective: