“Nickel Boys” Review
In “Nickel Boys”, Ethan Herisse (Left) and Brandon Wilson play two young men trying to survive daily life in a brutal reform school in the Jim Crow South.
Out of all of this year’s nominees for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it seems to me that the film getting the least attention is RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys”. Out of all ten films, it has the smallest amount of nominations (Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay) and has gotten a more minimal release compared to blockbusters like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” or even more intimate stories like “The Substance” and “Anora”. This really is a shame because “Nickel Boys” deserves to be talked about in length. After seeing this film, I was filled with so much emotion and so many questions that I continued to ponder for days after seeing it. With immersive storytelling and a thoughtful yet devastating message, “Nickel Boys” is an excellent piece of filmmaking that, I think, will only become more beloved over time.
Based off the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Nickel Boys” follows the life of Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) as an academically gifted young black man living in 1962 Tallahassee amid the Civil Rights Movement and the reign of Jim Crow segregation laws. After being unfairly implicated in a crime, Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy, a reform school with a dark underside. While at Nickel, Elwood strikes a friendship with another student named Turner (Brandon Wilson) and the pair try to make it through each day with the hope that they will leave this terrible school behind.
After amazing audiences with his cinematography for “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”, director of photography Jomo Fray teams up with director RaMell Ross to create a new level of immersion for the audience. Every shot in this film is a Point-of-View shot filmed from the perspective of either Elwood or Turner. So many of the shots are captured in one sweeping take and “Nickel Boys” works brilliantly to put the audience in the place of its characters. You feel the harsh stares of the teachers of Nickel Academy and you feel the fear of being in a place like this. At first, it is difficult to understand what is happening but that’s what makes “Nickel Boys” so engaging. It doesn't stop to hold your hand and ease you into its storytelling. It just presents itself and lets you get on the film’s wavelength, which typically happens within the first five minutes. Once you get there, it sucks you in and never lets go.
Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson are absolutely amazing with their exceptionally vulnerable performances. The pair have this endearing friendship that does follow the path of other prison films, with Elwood being more hopeful as he feels inspired by people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while Turner is a lot more cynical and feels that keeping his head down is the best path forward. But you understand both perspectives since Elwood has been raised with optimism by his grandmother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) while Turner has never had anyone looking out for him. No matter whose perspective is being taken by the camera, both personalities shine through with every scene and I hope that both actors continue to see these kind of powerful roles in the future.
While “Nickel Boys” is adapted from a book of historical fiction, the titular school is very much based on real places, most notably the infamous Dozier School for Boys. Writer/director RaMell Ross and his cowriter Joselyn Barnes both have an excellent history in documentary, with Barnes producing Ross’s debut film: the documentary “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”. While “Nickel Boys” isn’t shot like your typical documentary, it has the commitment to truthful storytelling that embodies the best qualities of the documentary format. Ross and Barnes’s script is absolutely enthralling and shows a truly dark side of America and the constant search for hope its inhabitants have.
As I kept watching “Nickel Boys”, I grew furious. Furious that places like Nickel Academy existed and continued their activities long after the Civil Rights Act was passed. Furious that their stories have gone largely untold like other atrocities in this country like the Tulsa Massacre and the Tuskegee Experiments. Furious that so many young men were caught in these traps that sought to strip them of their individuality and their hope. “Nickel Boys” feels like part of an answer to a tough question that we find ourselves asking when faced with these sins of America’s past: “what can we do?” The first thing to do is to acknowledge these stories and “Nickel Boys” is a powerful testament to history and the brotherhood that can be found in times of unbelievable hardship.
