NICKEL BOYS

*The film switches between the perspective of both main boys at certain points.

The film starts from the point-of-view of young Elwood Curtis (Ethan Cole Sharp), who lives in Tallahassee. His parents leave him in the care of his grandmother, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), who works in a hotel and sometimes brings Elwood with her.

As a teenager, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) starts to listen to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and does well at school, especially with his teacher Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails). Elwood also gets a job at a shop and participates in some peaceful protests of the Civil Rights Movement, and he is even seen with a girlfriend. Because of his work, Mr. Hill recommends Elwood to attend the Melvin Griggs Technical School, an HBCU where he would not have to pay tuition.

On the day that Elwood is heading to the school, he is picked up by an older man, Rodney (Taraja Ramsess). Police pull Rodney over and arrest him for stealing the car, and Elwood is implicated as the man’s accomplice. As punishment, Elwood is forced to go to the Nickel Academy, a reform school for boys.

Upon arriving at Nickel, Elwood is segregated from the white students along with the other black boys. The white boys are given more resources and attention, while the black students are barely paid any mind and are given minimal education. They are taught under Mr. Spencer (Hamish Linklater), a strict and domineering man. The black students are also forced to shower together at once, among their many poor living conditions.

Elwood eventually meets and starts to bond with another student, Turner (Brandon Wilson), whose POV is also shown and who does not have any family waiting for him outside Nickel. At night, Elwood sees two boys bullying another boy, Corey (Sean Tyrik), who has a stutter, but Elwood gets knocked out for trying to intervene.

Hattie comes to the school to try and visit Elwood after learning of his injuries, but is told that he is not allowed visitors. She finds Turner outside and asks him to deliver a letter from her to Elwood. Hattie also asks him for a hug since she is unable to hug her own grandson. Turner visits Elwood in the infirmary and comments on how dumb his attempted act of heroism was, but Elwood expresses his belief in standing up for justice. Turner tells him that, despite being told that they can be let out of Nickel early for good behavior, there are only four ways out – aging out, a miracle from the courts, dying, or escaping.

Turner gets Elwood to join him and one of the employees, Harper (Fred Hechinger), during their rounds of labor, which is said to be “community service”. Elwood recognizes it as illegal prison labor, but Turner thinks it might help their case to get out of Nickel faster. They are made to paint the school’s director’s porch, and his wife lets the boys swim in their pool.

Later, Elwood and Turner are in the school’s barn when they overhear Spencer talking to one of the bigger boys, Griff (Luke Tennie), just before a boxing match he is set to be part of. Spencer orders Griff to go down in the third round. The school gathers for the match, where Griff is pitted against a white student. Griff ends up winning, seemingly unaware that he was already in the third round. While never shown, it is implied that Spencer had Griff killed.

Flashforwards show an adult Elwood (only seen from the back of his head) as he works in New York City in the early 2000s. He is married and has a moving business, but does not seem to speak to Turner anymore. Elwood sees articles about mass graves being uncovered at the site of the now shuttered Nickel Academy. Elwood weeps for those that were lost. He is met by Chickie Pete (Craig Tate), one of the former Nickel Boys who has fallen on hard times in his adulthood, and who also remembers some of the boys who were murdered, including Griff.

On Christmas Day at Nickel, Elwood is visited by Hattie. She tells him that she tried to see a lawyer about trying to get Elwood out, but the man made off with her money and left, leaving Elwood angry and devastated. Elwood begins to document all of the wrongdoings at Nickel, hoping it will be enough to get him and Turner, and possibly the other boys out of there, but Turner thinks it’s a foolish endeavor that will only get him killed.

A government inspector shows up at Nickel. Turner delivers Elwood’s expose but later finds out that Elwood was put in the sweatbox after the notebook was discovered. After learning that Elwood will be executed, Turner springs him from the sweatbox and gets two bikes for them to ride their way out of Nickel. By the morning, they are tracked down by Harper and abandon their bikes by running through a field and into the woods. Elwood, still weakened from the sweatbox, is unable to keep up with Turner, and Harper shoots him dead. Turner escapes to Hattie’s home and delivers the tragic news to her, and she weeps in Turner’s arms.

An ending montage reveals that “Elwood” is actually an adult Turner (Daveed Diggs), who took on Elwood’s identity and built a new life for himself. In the present, he carries on Elwood’s legacy by fighting for justice, and he plans to testify against former Nickel employees to expose their crimes. The last shot is from Turner’s POV of Elwood helping him off the ground.