Boy Swallows Universe on Netflix: ‘Visceral’ trick behind mind-blowing scene

Guttural, animalistic screams cut through the atmosphere as two silent young boys wait outside the room.

The door – locked from the outside – is keeping their mum, Frankie, from accessing drugs and she’s in the dark, hellish throes of withdrawal.

It’s a gripping, heartbreaking scene in Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe, delivered with a powerhouse performance by Phoebe Tonkin, 34.

And she credits it to a strategy offered up by cinematographer, Shelly Farthing-Dawe.

“I kind of had free reign to use that space however I wanted,” Tonkin explained to news.com.au.

“[Farthing-Dawe] wanted to make sure that I didn’t feel like I was restricted to where the camera was, which was an incredible feeling for an actor – especially with something like that, where I could really be so emotional.

“It was so visceral, and I didn’t have to worry about where the camera was, or angles, or anything like that – I had a lot of room to play, even in that kind of dark sense.”

It’s just one of many captivating moments in the seven-part series, which premieres on Netflix today.

Based on the best-selling semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Aussie author Trent Dalton, it explores the life of young Eli Bell (Felix Cameron and Zac Burgess), who finds himself dragged into Brisbane’s underworld while living in a lower-class neighbourhood with his beloved mother (Tonkin), her generally well-meaning but troubled drug-dealing boyfriend, Lyle (Travis Fimmel), and his selectively mute older brother, Gus (Lee Tiger Halley) in the 1980s.

Felix Cameron and Phoebe Tonkin as Eli and Frankie. Picture: Netflix

It regularly wades into disturbing themes, but – just like the book – cleverly weaves it with optimism, innocence and genuine comedy.

“There are so many really dark moments … but when I think about the show as a whole, I think of it as such a hopeful, joyous story,” Tonkin said.

“So sometimes I kind of forget about those scenes [like Frankie’s withdrawal] because when I think back about not just the experience of filming it, but the actual show to me is just so much light and love.”

Travis Fimmel plays Frankie’s troubled but endearing boyfriend, Lyle. Picture: Netflix

Simon Baker rounds out the top-tier cast as Eli and Gus’ alcoholic and agoraphic father, Robert Bell, along with other Aussie talent including Bryan Brown, Anthony LaPaglia and Deborah Mailman.

Baker, one of our most well-known showbiz exports, found plenty of success in Hollywood after his breakout role in L.A. Confidential in 1997, followed by The Mentalist and The Devil Wears Prada, but in recent years, has returned to Australia and focused on local productions.

For the 54-year-old actor, it was Dalton’s ability to integrate “an enormous amount of heart” with “such a difficult story” which personally attracted him to Boy Swallows Universe.

Baker stars as Robert Bell. Picture: Netflix

The actor with Trent Dalton at the series premiere in Brisbane this week. Picture: Josh Woning

“Obviously it’s always going to be a challenge to adapt something [like the best-selling book] to a series, but I think they’ve really got it,” Baker told news.com.au.

“I think they really nailed it, which I’m pretty excited about. I know there’s a lot of people out there that really love the book, so there’s probably very high expectations, there always is when a popular book’s been adapted, but they really did a very good job.”

The novel may only be “semi” autobiographical, but it’s Baker’s character, Robert Bell, which Dalton has previously described as most closely resembling the real person. It’s something that added extra “pressure” on the actor – until he discussed it with Dalton.

“He told me one thing about his father that I didn’t need to hear much more after that … He said one very, very simple thing,” the actor recalled.

“He said, ‘My father was equally the most terrifying person I’ve ever met and the most beautiful person I’ve ever met’.

“And that was really profound for me. I really understood that – I know people like that, and I understand that. People aren’t good or bad necessarily, but they have great moments and they have horrifically bad moments, and those moments aren’t the sum of who they are.”

SOURCE: NEWS.COM