The first trailer has been released for The New Boy, the latest picture from filmmaker Warwick Thornton (Sweet Country, Samson and Delilah – the latter is absolutely brilliant, in this writer’s humble opinion).

Set in 1940s Australia, the film is set in a mission for Aboriginal children that is run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett). A new charge (newcomer Aswan Reid) is delivered in the dead of night – a boy who appears to have special powers. When the monastery takes possession of a precious relic, a large carving of Christ on the cross, the new boy encounters Jesus for the first time and is transfixed. However, the boy’s Indigenous spiritual life does not gel with the mission’s Christianity and his mysterious power becomes a threat. Sister Eileen is faced with a choice between the traditions of her faith and the truth embodied in the boy, in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.

The visually striking-looking film had its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and was also chosen as the opening film for the Sydney Film Festival.

The New Boy, also starring Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair, will be in Australian cinemas on July 6th.