''Storm Boy'' is a 2019 Australian drama

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

based on the 1964 novella by

Colin Thiele Colin Milton Thiele AC (; 16 November 1920 – 4 September 2006) was an Australian author and educator. He was renowned for his award-winning children's fiction, most notably the novels '' Storm Boy'', ''Blue Fin'', the ''Sun on the Stubble'' s ...

of the same name. The adaptation was directed by Shawn Seet and stars

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy ...

and

Jai Courtney Jai Courtney (; born 15 March 1986) is an Australian actor. He started his career with small roles in films and television series before being cast as Charlie in the action film ''Jack Reacher'' (2012). He has gone on to star in ''A Good Day to ...

. Thiele's novel was previously adapted in 1976.

Plot

Based on the book, ''Storm Boy'' follows a young boy growing up on a largely uninhabited coastline of Southern Australia. He rescues three orphan pelicans and forms a close bond with them.

Cast

as Michael "Storm Boy" Kingley *

as Tom "Hideaway Tom" * Finn Little as Storm Boy *

Trevor Jamieson Trevor Jamieson (born 7 March 1975) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actor, playwright, dancer, singer and didgeridoo player. Early life Trevor Jamieson was born on 7 March 1975 in Subiaco, Western Australia (WA). He grew up in t ...

as Bill "Fingerbone Bill" *

Morgan Davies Morgan Davies (born 27 November 2001) is an Australian film and television actor. He started his career as a child actor. Davies publicly came out as transgender in 2020. Career Davies made his film debut as child actor in the Australian film ...

as Madeline *

Erik Thomson Erik Thomson is a Scottish-born New Zealand-Australian actor. He is known for playing Hades in the television series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', ''Xena Warrior Princess'' and ''Young Hercules'', Dr. Mitch Stevens in '' All Saints'' an ...

as Malcom Downer *

David Gulpilil David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil (1 July 1953 – 29 November 2021), known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously (at his family's request, to avoid naming the dead) as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Indigenous Australian actor ...

as The Father of Fingerbone Bill * Simone Annan as Murujuga Lawyer * Thibul Nettle as Police Officer (as Stinga-T) * Luca Asta Sardelis as Smirking Schoolgirl #1 * Georgina Giessauf as Smirking Schoolgirl #2 * David John Clark as Police Senior Constable *

Chantal Contouri Chantal Contouri (born 1950; sometimes credited as Chantal Cantouri, el, Σαντάλ Κοντούρη) is a Greek Australian television and film actress and former dancer, best known for her role in the 1970s soap opera ''Number 96'', as nurs ...

as Julie Sims * Martha Lott as Pearl * Nick Launchbury as Reporter #1 * Emma Bargery as Reporter #2 * Miraede Bhatia-Williams as Mildew * Brendan Cooney as Police Officer * Edward Boehm as Young Storm Boy * Caroline Mignone as Angela * Anna Bampton as Jenny * Rory Walker as Murray * Lucy Cowan as Belle * Niraj Pandya as Office Receptionist * Brendan Rock as Hunter #1 * James Smith as Hunter #2 * Bradley Trent Williams as Jasper Davies * Tim Whibley as Office Worker * Paul Blackwell as Cal Evans * Michelle Nightingale as Mrs. Marks *

Natasha Wanganeen Natasha Wanganeen is an Aboriginal Australian actress. She is known for her starring role in the 2002 feature film '' Rabbit Proof Fence'', aged 15, and numerous television roles. Her debut film as co-writer and co-producer is the 2022 short fi ...

as Susan Franklin

Production

''Storm Boy'', an Ambience Entertainment production, was shot along the Coorong and in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in July–August 2017. The

Hudson Hornet The Hudson Hornet is a full-sized automobile that was manufactured by Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan from 1951 until 1954, when Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson merged to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). Hudson automobiles ...

used in the filming was supplied by a local South Australian car collector.

Release

The film opened in theatres in Australia and New Zealand on 17 January 2019, in Poland on 19 January 2019 and in the United States on 5 April 2019.

Box office

The film was released in 320 theatres in Australia on 17 January 2019 but it grossed only $874,000 (USD) on its opening weekend. By the end of its theatrical run in Australia, it had earned a total of $3.5 million. The film also grossed just over $600,000 in Poland and New Zealand when it was released over 17–19 January 2019. The film was released in the United States & Territories on 5 April 2019 but only earned $71,000. The total box-office for ''Storm Boy'' was $4.2 million.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads, "''Storm Boy'' can't quite live up to the original, but this retelling of a beloved story retains enough of its classic source material's heart to remain worth a watch." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2019 2019 films 2010s children's drama films Australian children's drama films Films about birds Films set in South Australia Films scored by Alan John Films directed by Shawn Seet Films set in the 20th century Films set in the 21st century Films set on beaches Films shot in Adelaide Remakes of Australian films Films about father–son relationships Films based on Australian novels Films based on children's books Films about Aboriginal Australians 2010s English-language films Screen Australia films