Nickel Boys (2024)
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Two African-American boys are sent to an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida where they face systemic cruelty and forced labor.
The story
In 1962 Jim Crow-era Tallahassee, Florida, young African-American Elwood Curtis is a bright student who is unjustly convicted of being an accomplice to a car theft. Because he is underage, he is sent to the Nickel Academy, a reform school. The school is internally segregated; while White students enjoy comfortable accommodations, Black students are housed in shabby facilities and are forced into convict labor. Elwood bonds with a cynical student named Turner. While Elwood is inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, Turner urges him to keep his head down to survive the school's harsh environment and systemic abuse.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1962 Jim Crow-era Tallahassee, Florida, Elwood Curtis is sent to the Nickel Academy after being wrongly convicted of car theft. At the school, Black students are subjected to poor conditions and forced into convict labor, while White students live in comfort. Elwood bonds with Turner, a cynical student who warns him to stay quiet. After Elwood is bullied and the administrators respond with violence, Hattie, Elwood's grandmother, is barred from visiting him. Elwood eventually decides to expose the school's abuses by delivering a diary to a government inspector with Turner's help. The administrators retaliate by torturing Elwood in a 'sweatbox.' During a subsequent escape attempt, they are caught; Turner escapes into the woods, but Elwood is shot and killed. In a flashforward to 1988, an adult Elwood lives in New York City and learns of unmarked graves at the old Nickel campus. Back in the 1960s, Turner survives, moves North, takes Elwood's name, and eventually testifies about the school's experiences.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 140
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- RaMell Ross
- Writers
- RaMell Ross · screenplay; Joslyn Barnes · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Ethan Herisse · Elwood; Brandon Wilson · Turner; Hamish Linklater · Spencer; Fred Hechinger · Harper; Daveed Diggs · adult Turner; Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor · Hattie; Jimmie Fails · Mr. Hill; Ethan Cole Sharp · young Elwood
- Genres
- historical drama
- Themes
- racism; systemic abuse; Civil Rights Movement; survival
- Tone and mood
- historical; sensory; moral urgency
- Premise and plot tags
- historical drama; based on actual events; based on a novel; first-person POV
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)
- Reception
- The film received universal acclaim, with a Metacritic score of 91. It was named one of the best films of 2024 by the American Film Institute and IndieWire, and it received several accolades and nominations from the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 91 · scale: 100 · review count: 49
- Awards and nominations
- Best Cinematography · Independent Spirit Awards · 40th · win; Best Motion Picture – Drama · Golden Globe Awards · 82nd · nomination; Best Picture · Academy Awards · 97th · nomination; Best Adapted Screenplay · Academy Awards · 97th · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was shot from a first-person point-of-view with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.; The camera operator, Sam Ellison, moved the camera to suggest a hug between Hattie and Turner.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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