[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up]
The Florida School for Boys was at one point the largest reform school in the United States. Throughout its 111-year history, it saw a secret history of abuse and beatings on its students, many leading to deaths. In the 2010s, these secrets would be unearthed and in 2019, author Colson Whitehead would write a novel that would bring two characters together at the heart of this hellscape.
Now, a film adaption of these stories, Nickel Boys, is a thought-provoking look at two young men looking for their way out of their troubles and learning to express their own emotions with one another.
Directed by RaMell Ross in his first narrative feature, the story tells of Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) who grows up with his grandmother Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in 1960s Tallahassee, Florida. He is a scholarly student who participates in rallies for Civil Rights and gets good grades, enough for him to be accepted to an HBCU. Trying to make his way to school, he is arrested after being picked up by a man with a stolen car, unintentionally becoming an accomplice.
He is sent to the Nickel Academy, a segregated reform school, where black students work for no money and are abused by the staff in more ways than one could imagine. There, Elwood meets Turner (Brandon Wilson), another student, quiet and reserved, not unlike himself. Together, they survive and plan for what comes next in their lives. They both witness cruelty by the Academy’s administrator Spender (Hamish Linklater) and work alongside Harper (Fred Hechinger) who works with the two as part of free labor. Together, the boys dream of a life outside of the academy and dream of their future possibilities.
What is the most unique thing about Nickel Boys is the direction that Ross takes with the story. Both Elwood and Turner are the cameras. We the audience see the action from their own point of view. We see how they see each other and the world around them. This is such a unique way of filming that doesn’t feel like a gimmick and feels wholehearted in order for audiences to really step foot into the story.
I liked this film a lot. I think it took a second for me to get into the groove of the story as it starts with numerous flashforwards of young Elwood, until we get to when he is a teenager and his real story begins.
Nickel Boys is being labeled as a new American classic. I think in this rocky time we are living in now, a movie like this is just what people need. Yes, it has such powerful and heart wrenching moments, but seeing these two African American boys try to find some solace with one another in a perilous place is a revelation.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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