Film Review — Nickel Boys
Ramell Ross adapts Colson Whitehead’s novel almost entirely with point-of-view shots to surprisingly powerful effect
Films relying entirely or predominantly on first-person point-of-view shots are rare and typically occur with genre films. Examples include film noir Lady in the Lake (1947) and sci-fi action flick Hardcore Henry (2015). However, director RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys makes particularly effective use of the technique in this gripping and moving drama inspired by the appalling abuses at Florida’s now-closed Dozier School for Boys.
Adapted from a novel by Colson Whitehead (which I haven’t read), this tells the story of gifted Black teenager Elwood (Ethan Cole Sharp and Ethan Herisse, playing him at different ages), who is looking forward to attending college, circa Jim Crow era Florida, 1962. A horrendous miscarriage of justice sees him bundled off to reform school instead, where he meets Turner (Brandon Wilson), another Black inmate whose outlook on their predicament is far more cynical than Elwood’s, given the brutal beatings and worse taking place. Realising he’s inside what is effectively a racist segregated prison profiting from slave labour (the white inmates are housed far more comfortably), Elwood’s ideals of non-violent Civil Rights reform are challenged by his horrifying realities. Prison officials even contrive to keep him away from his beloved grandmother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) when she comes to visit. But the friendship, and indeed love (in the platonic sense) between Turner and Elwood also grows.
As the film progresses, flash-forwards are interspersed, revealing Elwood (Daveed Diggs) at a later stage of his life via over-the-shoulder POV shots instead of first person. The transition to this perspective occurs at a critical dramatic moment that I won’t spoil, and it’s to Ross’s credit that this works so well. In fact, he deserves a lot of praise for ensuring the POV technique never feels gimmicky, though it does take a little getting used to. Ross knows this, so allows certain flourishes for the audience to find their feet (the repetition of a key scene to establish switching between Elwood and Turner’s perspectives, for instance).
It’s an exceptionally difficult feat to pull off, but RaMell is ably assisted by cinematographer Jomo Fray (shooting in the increasingly trendy 1:33:1 Academy Aspect ratio) and editor Nicholas Monsour, whose contributions add to the impressionistic, immersive feel of the film. Key footage of historical events (Martin Luther King and the Apollo missions, for instance), as well as clips from The Defiant Ones (1958), are interspersed to indicate both the passing of time and the cultural context within which the story takes place. It could be argued that this creates a slightly distancing effect, but the powerful performances of the cast bridge that gap.
All things considered, Nickel Boys is a powerful and singular work that rewards the patient viewer and lingers long in the consciousness. I expect Oscar nominations will follow. In the meantime, with the minor caveat that it’s perhaps a little too long and won’t be for everyone, this certainly comes with my recommendation.
(Originally published at Medium.)
The Dillon Empire beyond Substack
For a full list of my published novels, click click here.
For more on my novels and other fiction projects, click here.
For my Patreon page, click here.
For my Medium page, click here.