Boy Swallows Universe is an Australian coming of age television limited series for Netflix.
Let’s find out more about the Netflix show!
- Boy Swallows Universe is an Australian coming of age television limited series.
- It is available on Netflix.
- It was based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Trent Dalton.
- Produced by Andrew Mason and Troy Lum.
- It was written by John Collee.
- The story revolves around Eli Bell, a working-class youth who enters Brisbane’s underworld to save his mother from danger.
- Filming took place in the Brisbane suburb of Greenslopes from November 1 to 3, 2022
- Production was delayed after a SFX malfunction in which fake blood had stained the actors, prosthetics, wardrobe and set.
- This malfunction ultimately cost a significant amount in order to repair the damage.
- The series has 7 episodes.
- The television adaptation rights of Trent Dalton’s novel Boy Swallows Universe were acquired by Brouhaha Entertainment, Anonymous Content and Chapter One.
- On 4 March 2022, it was announced that an 8-episode limited series had been commissioned by Netflix, with producers Andrew Mason and Troy Lum of Brouhaha Entertainment, Sophie Gardiner of Chapter One, and Kerry Kohansky-Roberts and Toby Bentley of Anonymous Content.
- It was revealed on 31 August 2022 that Felix Cameron would be playing the leading character, Eli Bell.
- The same day it was revealed the other main cast members included Lee Tiger Halley, Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker, Phoebe Tonkin, Bryan Brown, Anthony LaPaglia, and Sophie Wilde.
- Christopher James Baker, Deborah Mailman, Ben O’Toole, and others also landed roles later.
- Shelly Farthing-Dawe is the main cinematographer of the series.
- Principal photography for the series reportedly began in August 2022.
- A house in Beenleigh was used for Lyle and Frankie’s house while Robert’s house was located in Wavell Heights.
- The scenes of the family buying a secondhand Atari console were filmed in Chelmer.
- Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the series a 86% approval rating based on 7 reviews.
- Luke Buckmaster reviewing the series for The Guardian rated it four stars out of five.
- Kylie Northover reviewing the series for The Sydney Morning Herald rated the series as five stars out of five.
- While the series and book are fictionalized, they were inspired by Dalton’s real-life upbringing in Australia.
- The character of Slim, played by Brown, is based on Arthur «Slim» Halliday.
- He was a convicted murderer who was known as the Houdini of Boggo Road for his notorious escapes from Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol.
- Dalton grew up with Halliday, who he looked to as a father figure. “I think in his last term, Slim’s really thinking, ‘I want to contribute in some bloody way, and here’s a couple of kids, and maybe that’s the answer,’” Brown, who plays Slim, told Netflix.
- Boy Swallows Universe takes place in the Brisbane suburb of Darra in Queensland, Australia.
- The red telephone symbolizes the strength of Eli and August’s relationship, as well as Eli’s path to healing from trauma. August and Eli first discover the red phone in the secret underground room that Lyle dug.
- Explaining how he came up with the title, Dalton says, “Boy Swallows Universe—the double meaning of that is you swallow the good stuff and you swallow the bad stuff and then you’ve got to spit it out as fireworks.” Boy Swallows Universe is now streaming on Netflix.
- At some point, Eli tells Caitlyn about August writing “your end is a dead blue wren” on that day that Slim taught Eli to drive, and how August told the phrase to Tytus. It must mean that Tytus is reaching the end. Caitlyn points out that the wren wasn’t dead, but Eli says it came back, just like he and August do.
