Allan Watched "Nickel Boys"
Incomparably made and viscerally executed, Nickel Boys is as enormous of an achievement in filmmaking as it is challenging to watch.
An Important Story Uniquely Told
It does not take long into Nickel Boys to realize you are watching a special film. The story follows Elwood and Turner, two high school-aged boys in Jim Crow Florida who become friends at Nickel Academy, an internally-segregated reform school. It is based on Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and it does the book justice in its film incarnation.
Director RaMell Ross’s first-person perspective approach to the film is unsettling at times, fittingly to the material, and it also makes the experiences of these two boys extremely intimate and hard to watch. It is brilliantly successful in its mission to make you live life in their shoes as they are tortured during their imprisonment which masquerades as a school. There are times when you wish you could see how the person whose vantage point you are sitting in is reacting to the events, but in the important moments, things flip between the two boys to land home the intensity and importance of the moments.
One issue I take is that the storytelling is more a documentation of a timeline than a story with an arc. The movie plays out as the recordings of their memories, with cuts to different times and flash-forwards featuring an older Elwood. The body swapping does allow for a deeper inspection of their treatment and desire to be free, but it doesn't always feel like a narrative. The twist at the end is successful, and the difference between who is good and who is evil is so clear. Nickel Boys in total is the most underrated film of 2024.
Fresh Acting From Fresh Faces
It is fun to watch a movie with unknown actors and see them flourish. Ethan Herisse leaves nothing for granted in his portrayal of Elwood, and it is a breakthrough performance that should put him in a position to take on more roles in the coming years. The underlying sadness in his eyes in the moments we get to watch him perfectly carry the weight of a young man who was destined for greatness, but because of the color of his skin, he is relegated to horrific treatment. You wish you saw more of him, but it makes the moments through Turner’s eyes even more special.
Brandon Wilson, in only his fourth professional acting credit, seems like the veteran of the crowd as Turner. Turner has a wisdom of the world that Elwood does not have, and he is fearless at every turn. His smile comforts the audience in the most harrowing moments, and his presence resembles nothing of an acting novice.
Beside these fresh faces is the always terrific Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Ellis-Taylor is Elwood’s struggling grandmother who does everything she can, even when there is never much she can do. Her different embraces of Turner throughout the film from when she tries to find Elwood at the school to the very end are some of the most heart-wrenching and beautiful moments of the film.
An Important Story
Watching Nickel Boys without knowing the history of the school it is based on is jarring on its own. Then you look it up and realize the school only shut its doors in 2011, and you realize just how important this story is. Justice has hardly been paid for the horrors that happened over 111 years at Florida’s Dozier School for Boys, where shallow graves were found all over campus for students who were murdered or neglected on its campus. Nearly 100 bodies were found, and it is hard to think about the hundreds and hundreds of students, some who were there less than 15 years ago, who were mistreated and had to deal with that abuse for the rest of their lives.
Stories like Nickel Boys remain vital because racism in America persists. Equality of opportunity remains elusive when institutions were only opened to all Americans a few generations ago. Grandparents living today attended segregated schools, so this isn't ancient history, it is the history of our peers. Acknowledging these recent injustices is essential for our continued social progress, and films like Nickel Boys can help educate everyone.
Random Thoughts
The tone is set immediately in the first ten minutes, even though there is very little dialog. You know exactly where and when in America we are being brought to, and it is clear where we are headed.
This is a beautiful feature film debut by Ross, who until now was known for his Peabody-winning doc Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which is considered one of the great documentaries of the last decade.
I can’t remember a Best Picture nominee with less buzz around it. I am sure the subject matter scares people away, which is disappointing.
Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) plays Elwood in the flash-forward scenes, and they are a marvel to watch. Whereas the “real-time” scenes are in a true first person POV, his scenes have the camera set back behind him, almost hovering behind his back as he deals with life after Nickel Academy and tries to uncover the horrors he experiences in more detail for all to see.
There are not many films that have been shot like this. Lady in the Lake is the only one that has been brought up when reading about first-person filming, and the critiques of that film echoed Nickel Boys in terms of its production. Not everyone loved the approach because you do not get to see the lead, but I think it was effective with Nickel Boys.
Quick Hits
How many times have I seen this movie?
Once fully and started rewatching it on MGM over the weekend.
Where was I watching it?
In my office with some sleepy time peach tea.
Favorite trivia about the movie
Ethan Herisse is such a new face in Hollywood he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.
Favorite part
The Daveed Diggs moments I think are some of the most interesting filmmaking you will see. It is a meta approach to the topic, while also rounding out the story.
Least favorite part
Any time I see Fred Hechinger I can only think about him boffing himself with his family in the other room in The White Lotus season one.
Would I recommend this movie?
It is essential viewing, particularly if you have a passion for how films are made.
So What Does Allan Give It?
Two Gold Thumbs Up! Overall, a score of 92. A breathtaking film. I cannot wait to see how RaMell Ross follows up Nickel Boys.
