- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Jan 11, 2024
Critic Reviews
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Somehow, Boy Swallows Universe pulls off a pretty dark coming-of-age story without being depressing or hopeless, thanks to some deft writing and fantastic performances by the cast.
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There’s a solid downbeat family dramedy nested inside Boy Swallows Universe, meditating on the compromises that come with living at the bottom rung of society. (A scene in which Lyle and an upper-middle-class housewife haggle over the price of a used Atari speaks volumes.) But the show doesn’t seem to realize that; it thinks that we also want a conspiracy thriller, an after-school special, and a Dickensian tale of childhood suffering.
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As a piece of social commentary on working-class life in suburban Australia, Boy Swallows Universe is hair-raising and charming in equal measure. As a crime drama, it feels gratuitously melodramatic. The denouement in particular, which liberally employs exaggerated plot devices and stock villains, eschews the light touch of the show’s promising early episodes.