The new boy (Aswan Reid, electric) is delivered to the Christian mission at night, tied in a hessian sack like a wild animal. And that’s how the white world of 1940s Australia views Indigenous Australian kids like him – as feral, unpredictable creatures in need of civilisation.
Through the lens of her fervent faith, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett) can see that there is something special about the child – he picks up snakes the way other children collect pebbles; he can soothe a fever with just his hands. And he can create a floating spark of light – a plaything and comfort for him in the long, strange nights in the mission dormitory. But the boy’s otherness is alarming to her, something that needs to be contained and reshaped.
