While finding the right project to follow up her Academy Award-nominated role as the complicated but celebrated conductor Lydia Tár in Tár may be a challenge for some, Cate Blanchett unsurprisingly rolled right into the next layered character. Today, we’re getting our first look at the Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe winner in a part that sees her holding tightly onto spirituality in Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy. Making its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, the newly released image reveals a story of dramatic depth and the bond of humanity.

The New Boy sees Blanchett and Thornton returning to their Australian roots and will take audiences back to their homeland in the 1940s. The film centers around Blanchett’s nun who, despite the orders she’s been given by the Catholic Church, runs a monastery far off the beaten path. When a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy (Aswan Reid) appears at the institution in the middle of the night, the reasons behind his arrival flip the monastery on its head causing morals to clash with spirituality. Also starring in the feature are Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires) and Wayne Blair (Extraction) with an ensemble cast including Tyrique Brady, Kyle Miller, Kailem Miller, Shane Brady, Laiken Woolmington, Tyler Spencer, and Tyzailin Roderick.

Today’s image perfectly captures the nun’s duties to heaven and humanity with Blanchett appearing in a traditional black and white habit complete with a rosary hanging from her neck. In her arms, she holds the young boy whose bloody hands are tightly bandaged. With his blood on her, the nun appears to be quite shaken at the circumstances of the boy’s arrival.

This will be Thornton’s second project to break ground at the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes with the Australian filmmaker first making waves via 2009’s Samson & Delilah which nabbed him the Caméra d’Or Award for his feature-length debut. Along with starring, Blanchett’s Dirty Films (Disclaimer) teamed up with Scarlett Pictures to co-produce with Roadshow Films distributing in Australia and New Zealand, and CAA Media Finance and UTA distributing in North America.

What Other Projects Does Cate Blanchett Have in the Works?

2022 was an incredibly busy year for Blanchett as not only did she appear in the critically acclaimed Tár, but her voice was also heard in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Paul Feig’s Netflix fantasy film The School for Good and Evil. On the big screen, audiences will soon see Blanchett in the film adaptation of Borderlands while she’ll take on the small screen in Alfonso Cuarón’s miniseries thriller, Disclaimer.

As of right now, The New Boy hasn’t set a release date but stay tuned to Collider for more information.

via Collider