The Year My Voice Broke – Monday 23rd June 2025

I watched this movie because a friend of mine recommended it; it never would’ve crossed my radar otherwise.

It's a coming of age story about a boy in a small rural town in Australia, set in the 1960s. The boy has a crush on his best friend, and watches as she falls for the town’s bad boy; that’s brutal at any age to be honest!

The film brilliantly captures the past. The tone, the setting; one really gets a feeling of being in the place, as though it was actually shot in that period. The cast are also great, really providing a sense of authenticity to the characters.

The story, although good, didn’t captivate me as much. The protagonist plays a role similar to that of ‘Nick’ in The Great Gatsby; we see events unfold through his eyes, but he’s not really the main player. He lacks the charisma to win the girl, and as an audience, we share his frustration in watching her fall for the ‘bad boy’, with all the consequences that follow.

I prefer stories where the protagonist has more agency and wins in the end, and this is more of a tragedy.

Still, it’s a good movie, and a great slice of life for a time and a place that we’ll never get to experience, so as a window into that world, it’s great.