Newcomer Aswan Reid, Cate Blanchett as an unorthodox nun and a haunting score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis make for an intriguing follow-up to Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country (2017). In the Australian outback of the 1940s, it is Sister Eileen (Blanchett) who is covertly in charge of an orphanage for Indigenous boys. No Indigenous values, language or practices are permitted. The arrival of a small, untamed new boy (Reid) unsettles the monastery, as do his mysterious, seemingly miraculous, powers. Sister Eileen is unnerved and her desperation to bring him into the Christian fold often ill-judged. This clash of spiritual and cultural worlds that lies at the root of colonialism, draws on Thornton’s own Catholic upbringing and features dazzling cinematography by the director himself.
Preview courtesy of Signature Entertainment
