Review: Nickel Boys
A Film Adaptation Of The Best Selling Novel
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Nickel Boys. Keep in mind this is but one of the many movies I watch every year, and that whatever initial grade I come up for this film could change for better or worse with time. To better keep up to date with both my thoughts on other movies and if my feelings on this film changed, follow me on Letterboxd.
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THE PLOT
Via Letterboxd: Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
QUICK REVIEW
During the 2010s, the horrifying secrets of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys were finally brought to light; years of abuse, beatings, rape, torture, and murders revealed after decades of silence. Colson Whitehead turned this atrocity into a historical fiction with The Nickel Boys, a best-selling novel that earned numerous awards. Now, years later, we have the film adaptation, Nickel Boys, directed by RaMell Ross in his first narrative feature behind the director’s chair.
The movie has made its rounds around the festival circuit and is slated for public release in mid-December. I was fortunate enough to attend a screening in late October. By the time you read this, it will be closer to the New York release - before it expands to a wider audience in the weeks and months after.
I wish you the reader could travel backward in time and let me know who won the World Series; or, better yet, whether we set ourselves as a country on fire and elected Donald Trump again. But, alas, here are my thoughts shortly after seeing the film - presented for eyes that are a little under two months ahead of me.
This movie is shot in a way most films don’t dare attempt - largely through a point-of-view perspective. It also incorporates an almost documentary-like execution, interspersing random clips between the narrative, while also jumping back-and-forth in time to give us a glimpse of both past-and-present. This creates an experimental storytelling approach, which, admittedly, might leave some viewers feeling confused or disoriented.
That said, this is a gut punch of a movie. The two young men endure truly brutal experiences at the school, and by using POV, it makes it easy for the audience to sympathize with and fear for them. The injustices depicted throughout the film will leave you seething - especially once you do your research and realize how tragically real these events were for many boys who suffered at the real-life version of this school.
The movie takes its time, yet it doesn’t spoon-feed certain plot elements to the viewer. This means you could miss key story beats or important details if you don’t pay close attention.
Visually, the film is stunning. Personally, I think it may be one of the best-edited and shot films of the year. However, the experimental narrative structure could leave some viewers feeling distant.
I won’t dive too deep to avoid spoiling the plot, but this is a difficult film to sit through. As I mentioned, you witness the cruel injustices these boys endure, and the ending delivers a gut punch akin to what I felt watching Judas and the Black Messiah - a film this one reminded me of. It’s well-shot, well-executed, and has an important message to convey. But it’s also not an easy watch, and for me, that diminishes its rewatchability.
Objectively, this is one of the best-made films of the year. If I were to purely grade this movie through execution and filmmaking it’s easily an A-tier film. Subjectively, I found myself respecting it more than loving it. It’s just a movie that, for me, was hard to want to go back to. I’d give Nickel Boys a tentative A-, with a caveat that this might be too tough a watch for some. Then again, it’s not supposed to be an easy watch to begin with.
INITIAL GRADING
