Boy Swallows Universe, one of Netflix’s biggest upcoming Australian productions has received its first trailer, and it’s a showcase of the wild time viewers are in for.
Set to the backing of Paul Kelly classic Dumb Things, the trailer takes us back to the ’80s, a time of mullets, Days of Our Lives, and kitsch furnishings. The footage doesn’t give much away, taking us from an idyllic Brisbane and images of a happy family into a descent through drug use and violence. However, the snapshots will be familiar to anyone who has read Trent Dalton’s 2018 novel upon which it is based.
Only a single word is spoken throughout the trailer, the name Eli, who is the young protagonist of Boy Swallows Universe, delivered over the red phone that he discovers in a hidden bunker. Check it out for yourself below:
Boy Swallows Universe is a magical realist story that follows Eli Bell (played by Felix Cameron and Zac Burgess) as he grows up in the outer suburbs of Brisbane. His older brother, August (Lee Tiger Halley), is mute; his babysitter Slim (Bryan Brown) is a hardened criminal; and his stepfather (Vikings and Raised By Wolves star Travis Fimmel) is a heroin dealer.
The novel won numerous awards following its release. The series does not yet have a release date.
