A bittersweet chronicle of a painful childhood that gave birth to a great writer…
Darra, a poor Brisbane suburb, mid-80s. Eli, 13, and his brother Gus, 15, live with their mother Frankie and stepfather Lyle. Despite poverty and daily worries, they find in family love the source of good times. But Lyle wants to get them out of there, and he knows very well that his worker’s salary won’t be enough. So, like many others, he deals. But he’s not patient and cautious enough, and one night, some men burst in and kidnap him. He was never seen again. For the already fragile family, the balance is upset and new trials begin. Forced to mature too early, Eli realizes what all adults know: no one is going to help us, we can only rely on ourselves to make things better. And after several life-threatening crises, some things will eventually get better.
After a depressing and sometimes disgusting first episode, we get caught up in an intriguing story. Gus, the traumatized young man who refuses to speak but sees glimpses of the future, is an atypical character. Eli is more classic, but remarkably well played by a charismatic young actor. And therein lies the great strength of the Netflix adaptation: a 5-star cast, right down to the secondary characters! Bravo to all the actors, who are impeccable at bringing these wounded characters to life.
Mini-series, 7 episodes (45 mn), 2024, on Netflix
- The family : Simon Baker / Robert Bell, Travis Fimmel / Lyle Olrik, Phoebe Tonkin / Frances Bell, Felix Cameron then Zac Burgess / Eli, Lee Tiger Halley / Gus
- The bad guys : Anthony LaPaglia / Tytus Broz, Christopher James Baker / Ivan Kroll, Haiha Le / Bich Dang, Toby Schmitz / Tim Cotton, Zachary Wan / Darren
- Friends and good guys : Bryan Brown / Slim Halliday, Debborah Mailman / Poppy, Sophe Wilde / Caitlin Spies, Adam Brigs / Alex …