Netflix’s take on Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe does his Antipodean epic more than justice
The nation would have rioted if Netflix had made a mess of adapting Boy Swallows Universe. Thank heavens it’s brilliant.
Can you imagine what would have happened if it turned out to be rubbish? Riots in the streets, bookshops across the nation in flames, Anthony Albanese calling up the White House and demanding Netflix executives be extradited for a good old hanging. And, oh, the sight of Trent Dalton – in his best Marlon Brando impersonation – crying a single tear on telly, quietly mumbling “look how they massacred my book”.
Thank god we’ve avoided all that.
The much awaited TV adaptation of Dalton’s beloved novel, Boy Swallows Universe, is anything but rubbish. It is simply gorgeous.
His 2018 semi-autobiographical masterpiece about a little Brisbane boy caught in a family of junkies and crims – with a mute brother who can tell the future, to boot – has very swiftly secured a place in both the wider public imagination and the post-war literary canon. Walking in the dust of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet and Helen Garner’s Monkey Grip, the not-so true story has become a book that represents to many what it really means to live in Australia. But could a Hollywood behemoth such as Netflix really understand the nuances and the traumas and the joys of living through the dying days of Sir Joh’s grip on Queensland?
Well, with the help of Oscar-nominated Aussie screenwriter John Collee – known best for Happy Feet and Master and Commander – the streamer has pulled it off. (Watch the trailer above.)
Boy Swallows Universe has mainly Dalton to thank, of course, for its success. There’s more than enough heart and drama and gore in the book to generate seven hours of television.
It’s easy to feel everything put on a television or cinematic screen is far too long these days – and each episode of Boy Swallows Universe is long – but you’re never bored watching this. And you’re glad by the end that they didn’t try to condense Dalton’s work into a badly edited two-hour flick.
Netflix also filmed the show in Brisbane, and what a joy it is to see the Queensland capital in all its sweaty, balmy, edgy glory. Brisvegas is truly one of the stars of Boy Swallows Universe, it’s never looked so sexy and so terrifying. Could you imagine if it were filmed in some Midwestern US dump pretending to be the heart of the Sunshine State?
But the real key to making Boy Swallows Universe work on the screen is the cast. Felix Cameron is a revelation as the little boy hero and avatar of Dalton. This kid is just so funny and so quick. Whether he’s dealing with glamorous TV reporters or horrifying gangsters, Cameron can more than hold his own. He captures so well how a kid who’s grown up way too fast can be both very wise and very stupid – he knows everything about life but he’s still too young to truly understand it. And god, Cameron will make you cry. After one trauma too many in one episode, he lies on the street yelping: “I just have too many tears in me.” You and me both, boyo.
Phoebe Tonkin and Simon Baker are brilliant as the drug-addicted mother and the booze-addled father. One wouldn’t usually feel sorry for someone as suave and as handsome as Baker, but good looks can hold an actor back sometimes.
There’s a reason the likes of Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp uglied themselves up with goatees and tattoos in the early 2000s to be taken seriously.
But Baker ain’t playing the lead in The Mentalist anymore. His ease in switching from an awkward, sweet, almost timid dad to a drunken Hulk-like crazy man is startling.
And then there’s Tonkin. She exudes a kind of “don’t look too closely into the sun” warmth and beauty that you just know will bite you later. One minute she’s an almost perfect mother, and then she’s screaming for heroin like some sort of suburban demon. It’s very hard to pull these kinds of transformations off, but both Baker and Tonkin do it so well.
Lee Halley’s selectively mute brother with a magic finger adds a dose of mystical realism to all this drama. He’s another one who’ll probably end up with a big career if this adaptation is the global success it deserves to be.
And Travis Fimmel’s dodgy stepdad – based on Dalton’s own – is a very charming rogue.
Bryan Brown is great as a calming and grounding influence in both the young fella’s life and for an audience faced with so many loud monsters – extraordinary considering Brown is playing a convicted murderer turned babysitter.
Sophie Wilde, who’s on track to become a big Hollywood name after global horror smash hit Talk to Me and her own Netflix teen drama, Everything Now, is very starry as the top Courier-Mail crime reporter who Eli has a big crush on.
Rapper and comedian Briggs is a hoot as the prison-bound pen pal who sends the little boy missives on how to survive the Brisbane crime scene, like a Moonlight State answer to Sun Tzu.
Boy Swallows Universe does have the odd fault here and there.
There is way too much narration, especially in the first episode. The makers should have let the story tell itself a bit more.
And Anthony LaPaglia – dressed up all in white like KFC’s Colonel Sanders – is really hamming it up as the stepdad’s mysterious factory boss.
But if those are the only flaws in this adaptation, I reckon Dalton and the millions who read and loved Boy Swallows Universe should be pretty happy.
This adaptation not only had the expectations of Dalton’s readers on its shoulders, but the fate of Australian television, too.
And 2023 was a bloody good year for this big island and its foray into streaming.
From the global success of Binge rom-com Colin from Accounts to the widespread love for Amazon Prime’s cop caper Deadloch – we have seen the ambition and hunger the world’s streaming audiences and distributors alike have for Australian stories.
But Boy Swallows Universe was a greater leap yet. An Antipodean epic you rarely see at all, never mind front and centre of Netflix’s post-Christmas offerings.
What a start for a big 2024 in television. And what a winner.
Where can I watch Boy Swallows Universe in Australia?
Boy Swallows Universe is streaming on Netflix
When is Boy Swallows Universe released?
Boy Swallows Universe will debut on January 11, 2024
Is Boy Swallows Universe based on a true story?
Boy Swallows Universe is based on author Trent Dalton’s childhood, when his mother fell in love with one of Queensland’s most dangerous heroin dealers.
Will Boy Swallows Universe have a season 2?
Boy Swallows Universe is a self-contained mini series based on Trent Dalton’s novel.
