Boy Swallows Universe adaptation has universal appeal

THERE'S plenty riding on Netflix's adaptation of Australian novel Boy Swallows Universe.

When it was announced in 2019 that there would be a TV series made of journalist-author Trent Dalton's beloved modern classic, there was palpable excitement.

And with the Federal Government set to introduce laws dictating Australian content quotas for streaming services this year, Netflix also has plenty riding on Boy Swallows Universe's success, too.

Given Netflix's, at best, mixed track record of producing Australian content - does anyone remember the god-awful reality show Byron Baes - there has been scepticism in some quarters whether this truly Aussie story could translate well on the US streaming giant.

The good news is, it does. Fans of Dalton's semi-autobiographical tale will be thrilled with this faithful re-creation.

Unlike some recent locally-produced series on commercial stations - such as the Nine Network's ham-fisted Shane Warne mini-series Warnie - Netflix has given the story the production value it deserves.

The tone of 1980s working-class Brisbane suburbia and the strong emotional pull of the novel have largely been captured in this seven-episode series.

It doesn't hurt that Dalton is one of the seven executive producers, which also includes Hollywood actor and filmmaker Joel Edgerton.

Boy Swallows Universe tells the story of 13-year-old Eli Bell (Felix Cameron) who lives in suburban Brisbane with his recovering drug-addict mother Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin), his heroin-dealing stepdad Lyle (Travis Fimmel) and his fiercely-loyal older brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley) who refuses to talk, but supposedly possesses a clairvoyant power.

Eli is a street-smart and wise-cracking kid that spends his day writing to his prison pen pal Alex (Adam Briggs) and learning life lessons from his babysitter and convicted murderer, Slim Halliday (Bryan Brown).

It's anything but an orthodox upbringing. This leads to Eli's warped sense of moral code where "you don't rat on your mates" and his matter-of-fact way of talking about drug-dealing as if he's retelling the results from a footy match.

Eli even starts to accompany Lyle on drug deals.

But among the shady characters and harsh realities of life, there's a sense of love and family commitment that permeates through the story.

Eli's world comes crashing down when gangsters interrupt their family dinner, kidnapping Lyle, knocking out his mother and cutting his finger off.

With Lyle seemingly dead and his mother in jail on drug possession charges, Eli and Gus must rely on their brotherly bond as they return to live with their alcoholic and violent father, Robert (Simon Baker).

The biggest challenge in bringing Boy Swallows Universe to the screen was always going to be casting Eli.

In Felix Cameron (Penguin Bloom), directors Bharat Nalluri, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Kim Mordaunt have uncovered a real talent.

Cameron is able to run Eli's full gamut of emotions, from lippy and cocky teen to frightened and traumatised little boy who's witnessed his mother's harrowing drug withdrawals.

Fimmel, best known for playing Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings is also magnetic on screen as the lovable rogue, Lyle.

Boy Swallows Universe was Australia's fastest-selling debut novel when it was published in 2018. This TV adaptation is likely to become Netflix's most successful Australian series to date.