December 17, 2024 – This point-of-view film is getting a lot of Oscar buzz this awards season for good reason. It is a searing indictment of the way things used to be in America and why most minorities and other marginalized people don't want to go back to those “Great Again” times, ever again.

Much of this film is shot from the point-of-view of the main character, an idealistic young black man, Elwood Curtis (played by Ethan Herisse of the “When They See Us” miniseries). We don't see his face for much of the film, until the camera takes up the point of view of another character in the film.

That other point-of-view character is Turner (played by Brandon Wilson of “The Way Back”) who becomes Elwood's best friend in a reform school (actually a work camp) called the Nickel Academy in Florida. Elwood, hitchhiking his way to college, gets a ride from a man and ends up in jail because the car was stolen. He is convicted of being an accomplice in the theft, despite not knowing the thief, or the fact that the car he was riding in was stolen.

Nickel Academy is racially segregated. The white juveniles are treated much better than the blacks. It is also a very corrupt institution, where some of the food that is supposed to go to the inmates is sold on the black market, and inmates are hired out as cheap labor, with the money going to the school officials.

Students at the school are sexually abused, beaten and sometimes killed and secretly buried. Elwood thinks Nickel can be reformed if authorities are told of the abuses and corruption taking place there, but Turner, who is cynical, advises Elwood to keep his head down and not get involved.

Elwood tries to help another student being attacked and ends up being beaten. He tries to alert authorities to what is going on at Nickel and ends up marked for death. Their situation becomes so desperate that Elwood and Turner are forced to try to escape.

This story takes place in several time periods, from the 1950s to the 2010s, but most of it takes place at Nickel in the late 1960s. In the 2010s, an investigation of Nickel unfolds including the discovery of many unmarked graves. This brings back a lot of bad memories. Former inmates at Nickel face a choice, to stay quiet or to relive those bad memories by testifying about what went on there.

Outside Nickel, back in Tallahassee, Elwood's grandmother, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor of “King Richard”) hires a lawyer, hoping to overturn Elwood's conviction, but the legal system is stacked against her. She meets Turner at Nickel when she is denied visitation rights with her grandson.

This movie is based on the award-winning book “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead, which in turn is based on actual history. The Nickel Academy is based on the historic Dozier School in Florida, where abuses took place over more than 120 years. According to Wikipedia, “... the school gained a reputation for abuse, beatings, rapes, torture, and even murder of students by staff.” and about 100 inmates died there from 1900 to 2011, many of them were found in unmarked graves, outside the cemetery.

This is a very powerful story of injustice, inhumanity and friendship. The imaginative use of cameras by Director RaMell Ross of “Easter Snap” (Ross is also a cameraman) and cinematographer Jomo Fray of “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” are key to the immersive power of this film. Point-of-view and body mounted cameras are used to put the viewer inside the characters in the movie. This immersive movie rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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