Boy Swallows Universe - It's really good

in a world full of never-ending mind meltingly dull and dreary Star Wars projects endless tear inducing Marvel spin-offs and pointless remakes that border on blasphemy you'd be forgiven for thinking that maybe there's no hope for the future of entertainment maybe we should just embrace our fate and accept that we will forever be preached to through TV programs that rub our faces in political messaging rather than entertain us with fascinating and engaging stories maybe there are no more Original Stories left to tell but fear not my friends there is hope there is boy swallows Universe on Netflix the first time I heard about this series was when a friend recommended it this should be a good thing but sometimes this comes with ringing alarm bells and is sometimes fought with danger you see my friends and I are actually quite childish and like to wind each other up one of the particularly mean tricks we like to players to actually recommend something we've watched which is actually terrible or even worse to recommend something thing we have absolutely no intention of watching because the trailer looks so [ __ ] terrible a particularly cruel example of this was when I recommended She-Hulk attorney at law when I initially read the title boy swallows Universe on my WhatsApp my mind was thrown back to a Dark Age of cheesy 90s sitcoms that make you want to rip off your ears and vomit out your lower intestine good one Michael but if you think I'm going to fall for that you've got another thing coming so I pretty much pushed it to the back of my mind until one cold and boy January evening when I was scrolling Netflix bored out of my brain and the title called out to me watch me watch me was this some moment of divine intervention from a Netflix dirty or some Nifty new advertising tool or maybe I just had one too many vogas at lunchtime whatever the cause I decided to listen and I'm so glad I did this is the best series I've seen in a long time so good in fact I managed to nail all seven episodes over two evenings it's almost impossible to to classify into a specific genre it's a Bohemian rapid the story goes through multiple phases lurching from genre to genre is it a Coming of Age drama is it a crime Thriller is it a horror I have no idea but it's insanely entertaining one minute you're up and the next you're down some of the subject matter is Bleaker than a [ __ ] smeared latrine and a Charles dickins novel but the depression is lifted by Laugh Out Loud Comedy but somehow it all fits together perfectly the series is based on Trent Dalton's semi-biographical novel of the same name now having watched this show I'm not sure how biographical this story actually is Dalton himself has said that the story is split 50% fact and 50% fiction if that's true then that's absolutely terrifying and Dalton must have had quite the life the story itself is told Through The Eyes of 12-year-old Eli a brigh eyed articulate if not rather potty mouthed teenager growing up and navigating his way through 1980s Brisbane and its criminal underworld life has been hard for Eli his father is an angry alcoholic who he never sees his mother is a reformed heroin addict his stepfather is a smack dealer whose gear got his mom hooked in the first place on top of that his older brother Gus is a mute who communicates by writing words in the air with his finger the series kicks off with a family held captive by goons around their kitchen table a te ey L looks his stepson in the eye and apologizes I'm sorry mate before he is dragged away we are then taken back in time to the buildup leading to this event Felix Cameron is incredible as Eli he completely personifies doey innocence whilst looking very mischievous you can't help but feel sorry for him as he lurches from one crisis to another he cruy loses each Father Figure first his biological dad then his stepdad and then his mentor slim who is portrayed by the brilliant and Brian Brown he is also a target for sadistic School bullies but none of these tragedies daunt him he is ever endearingly optimistic always seeing the best in people and never judging anyone even his prison pen pal who is a Sergeant at Arms for a motorcycle street gang who probably isn't in jail for helping too many old ladies across the street fby tonin nails the role of the flawed but big-hearted Frankie she wants so much better for her sons and almost seems embarrassed as Eli gushes over her professing her as the greatest mother in the world for me Eli's stepdad L played by Travis fiml is the standout performance L knows he's not good enough for Frankie and suspects he will eventually let her down we are led to believe that it is Gus who is able to see into the future but you also wonder if L can see glimpses too perhaps he can see that he will lead the family to ruin but he loves both Frankie and also his step kid so much he can't bear to walk away this conflict makes L's character so interesting but also tragic Travis Fel captures this vulnerability perfectly I can't imagine anyone else playing the role of L better the love and affection he has for the step kids is heartfelt and genuine it's a nice step away from the usual cliche of evil stepdads who always turn out to be wrongin my favorite part is when Eli breaks down in tears and instead of admonishing him L practically begs his stepson never to change change it's a touching moment and it's refreshing to see a criminal portrayed in this way the scene is reminiscent of fimmel's performance in Vikings where he buries his friend Athlon I egg from your loss there is nothing that can console me now with the exception of Vikings and Warcraft which I had seared from my memory I think this might be the first thing I have seen with FML and it makes me realize what a criminally underused Talent he is is other standout performances include Lee tiger H who plays Eli's older brother Gus hi somehow manages to keep us engaged and laughing despite not saying anything for most of the series also it's absolutely mental how unrecognizable Simon Baker is as the red-eyed drunkenly aggressive and psychologically damaged father there is a whole Rogues gallery of colorful performances here there is absolutely no dead weight although I did feel a little sorry for Zack Burgess who had the unfortunate job of taking over the role of Eli when he grows up he was always on a hiding to nothing given the magical performance of the younger actor all in all though he does a pretty good job the one criticism I would have of this show is that the ending comes about rather quickly and there are elements which pretty much come from nowhere it would have been good to get an understanding of the main villain's motivation having said that I do like the fact that the show doesn't spoon feed the story to us and we are given licensed to make up our own mind as to what is actually happening boy swallow's universe is an absolute riot invoking Nostalgia from 80s Classics such as standby me and the lost boys but mixed with elements from This Boy's Life and Scooby-Doo if the Scooby gang were unfortunate enough to stumble into the Texas Chainsaw Massacre this is how storytelling should be

Channel: The Sadistic Reelist

Views: 1,237

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Id: A2wTP8eaWjs

Length: 7min 22sec (442 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 08 2024