The New Boy (2023) - full transcript
A nine-year-old Aboriginal Australian orphan boy arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun.
Police!
Police coming through.
Make way.
Police! Coming through.
Make way. Make way.
Come on, make
way. Police business.
Bugger!
Is Dom Peter here?
No, he's asleep.
But he asked me to wait.
I got a special
delivery for him.
It's a little darkie.
No, don't do that, don't
do that. He's a bolter!
Hey! Get out of there.
Little bugger,
come out of there.
- Come out of there.
- Is that what we're doing?
- Hey?!
- What are you doing, Sister?
Is it? Come on!
- What are you doing?
- Come on, I dare ya!
Take the paperwork, will ya?
Jesus!
- What's his name?
- He hasn't got one.
I'm Sister Eileen.
Hey!
- What?
- You scared him.
Oh.
Here.
What's your name?
Hey.
Look here, new kid.
Ahh. Mm-mm.
You want some?
Come on.
- He's not a joey.
- Hmm.
Come here. Come on.
Come on over.
You like that?
That's my marmalade.
Here, come here.
Do...
- Want this, yeah?
- Hey!
He's from the desert, that kid.
Go back to sleep.
Hello. What's your name?
Come on, out you come.
You wanna meet everyone?
Come on, come out.
He's wearing a dress!
Good morning, my son.
Alright. Go on. Go and
join your brothers.
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost, as
it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall
be, world without end.
- Amen.
- Amen.
Now, ah...
there's a new boy who
joined us last night.
I'm sure you've all met him,
but I hope that you will
show him the ways of our
little family and welcome him
into, into the fold.
Thank you, Sister.
So,
as one lamb arrives,
another departs.
And we are sad,
today, that our Johnny
is leaving us to
begin a new journey.
Come forward.
That's right.
Yep, you've got to bend
over it. That's right.
Good boy.
Dear Lord,
I present this lost boy to you
so that he may be baptised
and join your flock.
May the water
from your heart
wash away all his sins.
In the name of our Lord,
I baptise you... John.
- Thank you, Sister.
- Okay.
Now, will you all turn to
your hymn books, page 62.
"The Lord is my Shepherd."
♪ The Lord's my Shepherd ♪
♪ I'll not want ♪
♪ He makes me down to lie ♪
♪ In pastures green ♪
♪ He leadeth me ♪
♪ The quiet waters by ♪
Come on, boys.
Come on. Hep, hep.
Come and get it, boys.
I'm sad to see
you leave, Johnny.
You're a good boy. You
look after yourself.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Know when to bite your tongue.
Michael.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Matthew.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Steven.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
James.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Henry.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Ah, the little new one.
Every kid here
calls me Sister Mum,
'cause they don't have a mum.
And if you ain't got one,
you can call me
Sister Mum too, okay?
Hmm.
Alright, now George is here.
John?
Would you please bless
our meal one last time?
Yes, Sister.
Dear Lord,
We ask you to bless this meal
that Sister Mum has
prepared for us.
For this food, we
give you thanks.
- Amen.
- Amen.
Grant us, O Lord,
we beseech thee a safe journey,
so that under thy guidance and
the guidance of the holy angels,
we may safely reach
our destination.
St. Christopher, the
patron saint of travellers,
pray for us, and
protect us from evil.
In the name of the
Father and the Son...
In the name of the Father, of
the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- Amen.
- Amen.
Will you write to us, John?
Look forward to hearing
of your progress.
And these, these
are your papers.
- Keep them safe, you hear?
- Yes, Sister.
Ohh!
Look, it's a miracle.
It's a shilling.
Just in case.
Thank you, Sister.
Be a good boy.
Ah...
Don't get too excited.
There's no knife in it.
Bye, Johnny.
Just don't worry, children.
With Michael here,
as our new head boy,
you know we're going
to be in safe hands.
Hey, Sister Mum, might
we have a cake tonight?
In honour of Michael's big
day. What do you reckon, boys?
- Rum and raisin? Eh?
- Yes, please, Sister.
Hurry up.
Do your bed.
And make sure you
do my bed as well.
Okay.
Ahh.
Morning, Dom Peter.
It's a lovely day.
Anyway, I told a
lie to a policeman.
Well...
picked a fight, actually.
And, um...
Well, all the children are well.
And as you can see,
we got a new one
last night, so...
Ahh...
Yeah...
Wow!
What a difference
a year makes, hey?
Anyway, um...
Yeah, come on, son. There's
nothing to see here.
Yeah,
and I baptised Johnny.
I'm not sure if it worked,
I know it's a priest thing,
not a nun thing.
Oi! Careful!
It's a year to
the day, you know?
Since he died.
Swearing at us while
we wiped his bum.
Yeah. Well, we haven't been
struck down by lightning, yet.
I think the Lord might be
alright with our
little arrangement.
- Hmm?
- They'll find out.
We will be punished.
- And they'll send another one.
- It doesn't matter to them.
As long as we send the
profit from the harvest.
The Lord will
protect us, Sister.
Where's that new boy gone?
There he
is. Hugging a tree.
Oi!
Hey, cut it out.
Come on. Come on.
Now, you'll break your arm, eh?
Go on.
Go play with the other boys.
"To
the Chief Protector
"of Aborigines, Mr Krank.
"The boy John has been sent to
work on Dermott Downs Station.
"While I appreciate that the war
"has left many
farms light-handed,
"the boy's education will suffer
"as a result of this premature
induction into the workforce.
"After all, John is
only a boy of 13.
"I trust you will see
God's wisdom in this.
"Yours sincerely,
"Dom Peter."
Sit back down.
Uh-oh!
George will have something
to say about that.
Oi, darkie!
Matthew says he
wants to fight you.
Yeah, I'm going
to give it to you.
Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
You got him, Matty.
Good morning, my sons!
Ohhh. It's hot in here.
Michael?
What's going on here?
Michael?
Oh, come on. He's so
small, and he's not.
Sister, last night,
I caught Matthew
here stealing food.
- And this was his punishment?
- No.
No?
Well...
You're head boy, now.
So what should
his punishment be?
- Caning.
- Caning?
We haven't caned a
boy in over a year.
Is that what you really want?
Michael, being head boy
brings with it a
certain amount of power.
But it will also
bring you challenges.
It is times like this that the
Devil will test you, Michael.
- You understand?
- Yes, Sister.
Alright.
I'll leave the decision
between you and God.
Ow!
Cut it out!
Come on, that's enough.
Now get ready for church.
Go on, go wash up.
Come on, go wash up.
Matthew, come on.
Matthew!
Give us
this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who
trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Again.
Our Father
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who
trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
...deliver us from evil.
- Amen.
- Amen.
Hey.
Steven, he gets two scoops.
- Oh! He gets two scoops.
- I know.
So what happened this morning?
Hmm? Oh.
I think it's called
'the pecking order'.
Ah, they'll sort it out.
Now,
as you know...
today is the first day
of the olive harvest.
And George will be here to help.
Now,
many of you were here last year,
so you're expected to teach
those children who weren't,
how the harvest works.
Now, in our little family,
everyone contributes.
When we take pride in our work,
we take pride in ourselves.
Good Lord.
Mum!
One, two, three...
Oh, ow!
It shouldn't
sting for too long.
Pssss!
Hey, you like that jam?
That's my jam.
George's jam.
Good boy, Bear.
Good boy, Bear.
Good boy, Bear.
Got
a few bags, George?
- Good start?
- Yeah, good workers.
How's
the new boy doing?
Yeah,
he's doing alright.
Good.
Needs a name, though.
You going to wet his head, too?
We'll just call him
New Boy for now.
You're the boss.
Alright,
it's lunch, boys.
Alright.
Right, who'd like a sandwich?
Michael, would you hand
out the sandwiches?
Alright.
Yes. Come on, Bear.
"To Dom Peter.
That's it.
"He has been sent."
Okay, men, let's
get to that rock wall.
Come this
way. This way here.
Hey.
Go find the boys.
You've got to pull your weight.
"He has been sent.
"We pray that this
ghastly war will soon end,
"but until that day he
must remain in your care.
"We trust, Dom Peter, that
you will guard him wisely,
"as you guard the lost
souls under your charge."
That's it.
Come on, keep 'em coming.
Rocks there.
George, Michael fainted!
Snake!
- Hey? Where? Move, move!
- There!
Kill it.
Go get help. Go, go, go!
Shit!
Come on, boy. Come
on, boy. Come on!
Come on, boy.
Before the snake told Eve
to eat the forbidden fruit,
they were oblivious to evil.
They thought not bad thoughts
and did not bad things.
And they were naked
in their innocence.
Whoa.
Come on.
Well, quit your gawking.
Sister Eileen will put
the radio on for yas.
Hmm, good idea,
Sister. Come on, boys.
That's
Mary, that's me,
and that's Topsy.
♪ Plunging over rugged rocks ♪
♪ Hear the water slide ♪
♪ Bound to be where you are ♪
♪ Dear ones, here am I ♪
♪ A love song of the waterfall ♪
♪ Ooh-ooh ♪
♪ Do-do-do-ooh-ooh ♪
♪ A love song of the waterfall ♪
♪ Ooh-ooh Do-do-do-ooh-ooh ♪
♪ A love song of the waterfall ♪
Morning!
Rise and shine, boys!
There's a lot of
work to do today.
Now Michael will stay in bed.
Perhaps tomorrow he'll join us.
Come on, wake up!
Much to do. Much to do.
Yeah, hold him up. Keep
him tight. Hold it!
Over here! Over here!
Over here! He's over here!
There's a big... There's
a big one in here!
I've got it! I've got it!
Come here! You're
not even looking!
- Oh, wait, it ran away!
- He's just over there!
He's over there! He's over
there! He's over there!
Hmm.
Look, Sister!
George, stop.
- Bear, whoa, Bear.
- Stop, stop!
Hello!
Hello!
- Hello! Ah, my friend!
- Ah, g'day.
Oh! I see you have
our precious cargo.
Yeah, I do, Sister.
I just need a Dom Peter
to be able to sign
for it, please.
He's not here, he's...
Um...
Yeah, I'll sign.
Ah, I'm afraid it
has to be Dom Peter
that takes delivery
of the goods.
Of course, of course.
You know, when I said
Dom Peter wasn't here,
I meant he's not 'all here'.
Oh!
Well...
Wait, um...
I'll see if I can... I'll
see if I can rouse him.
Right.
Yeah...
Yeah, yeah, he...
Is that a '38 or a '39?
- Mum!
- Ah, it's a '39, mate.
Sister Mum!
Is it...
Is it the old crank start?
No, electric start.
Tell you, mate, there
won't be any new models,
not until after this
war is done, anyway.
Yeah.
- When's that going to be?
- Who knows?
Why did you wake me up?
What do you want, you slut?
Sign, just here!
Get out
of here, you dirty slut.
Sign!
I'm not
signing. What's that?
Ow! Get off me, I'm not
signing that, you slut.
Oh!
Go on, go
on, give me a kiss, you slut.
Forgive me, Father.
Come on, if
you're here, come and give me...
Come here
with your paper, you whore.
Just go and give me
a kiss, you slut.
Hmm.
He signed!
- Crazy, huh?
- He signed.
Ah, okay.
Sorry about the language.
Yep, thank you.
- He's not himself.
- Okay, um...
Do you want to give
us a hand with this, mate?
Yes!
Come on, boys.
Come on!
- Wait 'til I see something.
- Come on.
Ow!
Alright,
that's it. Chock him up.
Alright, men, get
around to the front.
Sister, you sounded
just like Dom Peter.
Oh, children, you
just heard some words
that you haven't heard
for quite some time.
And I pray you'll never
have to hear them again.
What is it, Sister?
It's a great
responsibility, Michael.
- Quickly, come on.
- Alright.
Let's
get it into the church.
- Alright, grab a side.
- Okay.
Right, grab a
handle. One, two, three!
Careful,
boys. Watch your fingers.
Right.
Slide him off. Put
him down there.
Put him up. Good men. Good.
Yeah.
Oh, blessed Father.
He's
travelled a long way.
He had to be
hidden from some nasty people,
doing some nasty things.
The Nazis?
He's all that's good,
and all that's holy.
And all that they
seek to destroy.
Who, the nasties?
Yes, Henry, the nasties.
Now it's said
that he can perform miracles.
Right, boys, let us pray.
♪ The Lord's my shepherd ♪
♪ I'll not want ♪
♪ He makes me down to lie ♪
♪ In pastures green ♪
♪ He leadeth me ♪
♪ The quiet waters by ♪
This is Jesus.
♪ My soul he doth ♪
♪ Restore again ♪
♪ And me to walk... ♪
He died on that cross,
so that we might live.
♪ Within the paths ♪
♪ Of righteousness ♪
Slut.
♪ E'en for his own name's sake ♪
George!
- George!
- Hmm.
Will you slaughter a lamb?
We're going to have
a feast tonight.
Come on.
Whoooo-hoooo!
Oh, you're a long way from
home, little lizard eater.
I'm on a good wicket here, boy.
Don't you go stuffing
it up for me.
Go on, get.
Amen! Amen!
Amen! Amen!
Amen, amen, amen!
Lord, blessed are
you for giving us this food.
Blessed are you for
giving us our home.
Blessed... blessed is
Jesus who arrived today.
And blessed is Sister
Eileen and my dad Harry...
Thank you, Michael.
Bless... bless George.
Bless... bless David, Matthew,
Steven, James and Henry.
Bless Johnny,
Christopher and Andrew.
Bless the memory of Dom Peter...
- Amen!
- Amen.
I knew something good was
going to happen today.
Thank you, George.
Amen.
God is good.
"To the
Aboriginal Protector, Mr Krank.
"I am writing regarding
"the progress of the
new boy you sent us.
"After a shaky start, he is
learning to read and to write.
"He has a passion for Christ,
"and I feel that he may
even follow in my footsteps.
"Yours sincerely,
"Dom Peter."
Keep away
from them, boys. Keep away.
Get it out!
Go get it out of here!
I said, get it out!
Oh, no, boys, come
on. Go and sit down.
Don't touch it.
Come on, men!
Amen.
Um...
Um...
Thank you.
Come on!
And... come on!
Hey, Michael, go over that way.
Look after those
fires over there.
Argh!
Come on.
Ahh!
I understand.
Tell me what to do.
Oh, shit.
Just cut it out.
Come on.
Careful.
You might break him.
I said cut it out!
He's sacred!
I know what that kid is.
Come on, men.
Go home!
Go on, get.
...you
were raised from the dead.
I receive Jesus Christ as my
Lord, sent for all our sins.
Dear God, I confess that I
have sinned and done wrong.
I believe that your
son Jesus Christ
took the punishment I deserve
and died on the cross
and I thank you.
I also believe that you
raised him from the dead.
And I receive Jesus Christ
as my Lord and saviour.
I believe that your
son Jesus Christ
took the punishment I deserve
and died on the cross
and I thank you.
You raised him from the dead.
And I receive Jesus Christ
as my Lord and saviour.
God! Dear God, I accept I
have sinned and done wrong.
And I receive Jesus Christ
as my Lord and saviour.
Dear God...
Oh!
Where is he?
What have you done?
What have you done?
Oh.
Amen.
Why?
Why would you do this to us?
Here he is.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Thank you, Sister Mum.
Amen.
Okay.
Stupid, stupid girl.
He
will not abandon you,
for he is your Father.
And as your Father,
he will protect you.
For you are his sons.
He gave you life.
So that you shall
give your life to him.
May your divine assistance
always be with us.
And may the souls of the
faithfully departed...
Sister!
With the mercy of God...
rest in peace.
Amen.
Son?
Dear Lord,
I present this lost boy to you
so that he may be baptised,
and join your flock.
May this water
from your heart
wash away all his sins.
After his resurrection,
Jesus told his disciples,
"Go forth.
"Teach all nations."
"Baptise them."
I baptise thee,
Francis.
I made you these.
Yeah.
"Today,
"we give thanks to God
"for a great
"deliverance.
"The enemy,
"who drove all Europe into war,
"has been finally...
"overcome."
Turn it
around. This way.
Alright, okay, men. Top
of the hill and back.
Alright.
Hey! Leave it there.
Let's go!
Get! Go, boy, go! Go!
- Go, go, go!
- Keep going!
Run!
Run!
What?
Go on. Go and turn around now.
Turn around. Come back.
- No, keep going.
- Come back.
- Come back!
- Keep going!
- Come back! Turn around!
- Keep going!
- Come back!
- Where are they going?
Keep going, keep going.