Boy Swallows Universe Teaser Trailer Brings Trent Dalton’s Best-Selling Novel to Life

Forum 5 months ago

Boy Swallows Universe Teaser Trailer Brings Trent Dalton’s Best-Selling Novel to Life

Netflix has unveiled the first teaser trailer for its upcoming limited television series, Boy Swallows Universe.

Based on Trent Dalton’s iconic debut novel of the same name, Boy Swallows Universe follows “a boy doing his best to hold his fractured family together in 1980s Brisbane.” According to the show’s official synopsis, Boy Swallows Universe “shows what happens when boyhood innocence collides with the brutal adult world.”

What is Boy Swallows Universe about?

The trailer for the forthcoming eight-episode coming-of-age series — which is set in 80s Brisbane, Australia — previews one young boy’s journey on navigating life amidst his far from ordinary life and upbringing: a mother and a stepfather involved in drug-related crime and a babysitter who is also a criminal. Starring Felix Cameron (Penguin Bloom) as Eli Bell, Boy Swallows Universe will center on Eli as he dreams of becoming a journalist someday despite the family turmoil, violence, and chaos surrounding him.

“An epic coming-of-age story set in 1980s Brisbane that blends the magic and innocence of youth with the brutal reality of the adult world. A lost father, a mute brother, a recovering addict mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather, and a notorious criminal for a babysitter. Eli Bell is just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to become a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way,” the Netflix statement reads.

The series adaptation of Dalton’s cathartic novel stars Phoebe Tonkin Eli’s mother Frances, Simon Baker as Eli’s father Robert, Travis Fimmel as the protagonist’s drug dealer stepfather Lyle Orlik, Bryan Brown as Slim, Lee Tiger Halley as Gus, Anthony LaPaglia as Tytus Broz, Deborah Mailman as Poppy Birkbeck, and Sophie Wilde as Caitlyn Spies.

No release date has been set yet for Boy Swallows Universe.