There are exactly two movies that left me sitting in my seat for ten minutes after the credits rolled. The first one is Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the second is Nickel Boys.
I knew virtually nothing about this movie when I walked into the theater, but in a strange way I wasn’t expecting much. The still images I’d seen seemingly told the story of yet another movie about the tragic lives of Black people.
What I ended up seeing was one of the most innovatively directed and shot films of this century. I saw a movie about friendship and resilience, and yes, tragedy, but ultimately about resolution, a major credit to director Ramell Ross’ obsessive attention to detail.
Photo by Jonathan Tolliver
Nickel Boys is based on the novel by the lauded Colson Whitehead, a story about a college-bound black teen who hitchhikes with the wrong person and ends up in a stolen car. He’s then sentenced to a reformation camp called Nickel.
In this camp boys are brutally beaten for minor infractions or no infraction at all. You can be sent to Nickel for committing the smallest of crimes, or, once again, no crime at all.
In this context, our lead, Elwood (Ethan Herisse), befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson), an orphan with an equally sensitive soul but a much more jaded outlook on life. While Elwood finds hope in the burgeoning civil rights movement of the early 60s, Turner sees a bleak future filled with reprobation and reprimands.
Courtesy of Amazon MGM
They quickly become close as the movie digs deeper into the horrors of Nickel. As other writers have noted, we never see the violence against the boys, but we do hear it from a distance. Your imagination runs wild with visages of bloody backed youth and skin ripping off bone.
Elwood’s mother, Hattie, played here by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, is a revelation, and for my money is a sure bet for best supporting actress at the upcoming Oscars. She is as sweet as she is somber, hoping for the best for her son Elwood but knowing his fate is out of her hands.
Courtesy of Amazon MGM
Time often lurches forward in this film, giving context to the harrowing images we see at Nickel. Elwood is all grown up now, but struggles to reckon with the brutality of his past.
There’s a surprise ending here, but in so many ways the film isn’t about that. It’s about resilience and cruelty and kindness.
If you think you’ve seen a movie like this, you haven’t. Nickel Boys into wide release in mid-December and you owe it to yourself to see it. As a work of cinematic brilliance and innovation alone, it’s worth the price of admission. But the feeling you’ll have leaving the theater will stay with you and hopefully fortify you for years to come.
