Boy Swallows Universe

Boy Swallows Universe is a seven part television series that takes place over a period of five years in Brisbane, Australia starting in 1985, The series is an interesting combination of a coming of age story about young Eli Bell (Felix Cameron and later Zac Burgess) and a crime drama about the drug culture at the time and how it impacted the working class community in the Darra suburb of Brisbane. The story has touches of the supernatural (an unconnected telephone hidden in a concealed basement that occasionally rings and spews out mysterious pronouncements), prophetic dream sequences, and elements of a revenge story to right evil acts committed against the Bell family. The only seemingly normal person in the mixture is twelve-year-old Eli, who tends to be outspoken about all of the crazy things in his life. Eli’s mother Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin) is a drug addict, his biological father Robert (Simon Baker) is an alcoholic who lives separated from the family, and his older brother Gus refuses to speak even though there is nothing physically wrong with him. Gus is a talented artist and will often express his feelings in a drawing or by picture writing in the air with his index finger. His step father Lyle (Travis Fimmel) tries to supplement his factory job income by dealing drugs. Other people in Eli’s life are ex-convict Slim (Bryan Brown), a man in his late fifties who serves as his babysitter and surrogate grandfather, and Alex (Adam Briggs), a prisoner serving time who is of all things Eli’s pen pal. One would think that these are the worst possible role models for Eli, but it turns out that they very much understand important life lessons, what’s going on in their community, and end up being quite protective of Eli.

Things seem to be getting better for the family, but then Lyle makes the mistake of trying to cut corners on the product he is delivering. The serendipity of their family life is cruelly destroyed when enforcer Ivan Kroll (Christopher James Baker) invades their home with several cohorts to find out what Lyle has done with the remaining heroin. They brutally rough up Lyle in front of his family and torture Eli, Gus, and Frankie, eventually cutting off one of Eli’s fingers. Lyle is carted off in the trunk of a car never to be seen again. To make things even worse, the family must agree to cover up everything to save their own lives. Frankie must claim responsibility for having the drugs around which results in a four year jail sentence while Eli must make up a phony story of an accident for how he lost his finger. With their mother and step father gone, Eli and Gus must rely again on their actual father Robert, to take care of them, and provide a place to stay at his home. Although a little rocky at first, this turn of events actually turns out to be beneficial for all of them.

Eli has been stabbed after a confrontation with Ivan Kroll.

Episodes 6 and 7 take place five years later. Eli is now seventeen and played by Zac Burgess. He has grown into a good looking and confident teenager. He has discovered that he likes to write like his father Robert. He has found his mother’s old typewriter and started to use it. A couple of years earlier, Eli had met reporter Caitlyn Spies (Sophie Wilde) who was trying to investigate what had happened to the Bells on that horrible night. Although Eli didn't admit to any involvement at the time, things have changed, and he uses that connection with her to work his way into a reporter position on the newspaper. The two partner together to fully investigate the underground drug dealers and what they find out leads to the exciting conclusion of Boy Swallows Universe. An additional subplot in these episodes is how the boys work to get Frankie away from Teddie Callis (Ben O'Toole), Lyle’s former best friend, who makes a play for her after her release from prison, but Gus and Eli suspect him of being the person who ratted on Lyle. While in many ways Boy Swallows Universe is a most unusual television series, the acting and the believability of the main characters draws you in for a rewarding viewing experience.

Closeup of Eli’s black high top chucks as he climbs stairs.

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