Drama

Nickel Boys

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Release Date : 2024-12-13

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Orion PicturesPlan B EntertainmentLouverture FilmsAnonymous Content

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : The Nickel Boys

Cast

Character Name : Elwood

Original Name : Ethan Herisse

Gender : Male

Character Name : Turner

Original Name : Brandon Wilson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hattie

Original Name : Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

Gender : Female

Character Name : Spencer

Original Name : Hamish Linklater

Gender : Male

Character Name : Blakeley

Original Name : Gralen Bryant Banks

Gender : Male

Character Name : Harper

Original Name : Fred Hechinger

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Hill

Original Name : Jimmie Fails

Gender : Male

Character Name : Griff

Original Name : Luke Tennie

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jaime

Original Name : Bryan Gael Guzman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Elwood

Original Name : Ethan Cole Sharp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Adult Elwood

Original Name : Daveed Diggs

Gender : Male

Character Name : Percy

Original Name : Sam Malone

Gender : Male

Character Name : Evelyn

Original Name : Najah Bradley

Gender : Female

Character Name : Boy at Playground

Original Name : Jase Stidwell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl at Playground

Original Name : Legacy Jones

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lincoln High School

Original Name : Ky'druis Follins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Elwood's Girlfriend

Original Name : Gabrielle Simone Johnson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Marconi

Original Name : Peter Gabb

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Man with Cane

Original Name : Bill Martin Williams

Gender : Male

Character Name : Older Guy (Protest)

Original Name : Ellison Booker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rodney

Original Name : Taraja Ramsess

Gender : Male

Character Name : White Boy

Original Name : Zachary Van Zandt

Gender : Male

Character Name : White Boy

Original Name : Zach Primo

Gender : Male

Character Name : White Boy

Original Name : Sean Papajohn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Corey

Original Name : Sean Tyrik

Gender : Male

Character Name : Desmond

Original Name : Bryant Tardy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chickie Pete

Original Name : Trey Perkins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Goodall

Original Name : Robert Aberdeen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Earl

Original Name : Escalante Lundy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Boy at Dining Hall

Original Name : Noah Craig

Gender : Male

Character Name : Black Mike

Original Name : Ja'Quan Monroe-Henderson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Butcher

Original Name : Mike Harkins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Citrus Grove Stilt Boss

Original Name : Nicholas Stevens

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nurse Scarlet

Original Name : Rachel Whitman Groves

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr. Cooke

Original Name : Billy Slaughter

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Hardee

Original Name : Lucy Faust

Gender : Male

Character Name : Denise

Original Name : Tanyell Waivers

Gender : Female

Character Name : Adult Chickie Pete

Original Name : Craig Tate

Gender : Male

Character Name : Millie

Original Name : Sara Osi Scott

Gender : Female

Character Name : Larry (uncredited)

Original Name : LeBaron Foster Thornton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy at Playground

Original Name : Bash Luks

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Martin Luther King Jr.

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Sidney Poitier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Tony Curtis

Gender : Male

Reviews

Brent Marchant

@Brent_Marchant

2025-01-09

The artistic choices a director makes while working on a film often contribute much to the success or failure of the finished project. When these decisions aptly suit the nature of the production, they can transform a commendable picture into a cinematic masterpiece. But, when they fail at this, they can unduly get in the way, and such is the case with this debut narrative feature from writer-director RaMell Ross. Based on the 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, the film tells the story of two young Black men, Ellwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who reside at the Nickel Academy, a fictional Florida reform school based on the infamous Dozier School for Boys, an institution known for its notoriously abusive treatment. Set in the 1960s against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, “Nickel Boys” depicts the horrendous atrocities inflicted upon the two friends and other “academy” residents, brutality that included acts of physical and sexual abuse, as well as the mysterious “disappearances” of those who fail to abide by the facility’s strict rules. This is obviously an important and troubling story, one that desperately needs to be told. But, despite the picture’s fictional treatment of a fact-based tale, the impact of the story is severely diluted in this anemic screen adaptation, primarily due to the filmmaker’s attempt at wrongheadedly trying to turn it into some kind of cinematic art project. Much like the director’s inexplicably Oscar-nominated documentary feature “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” (2018), this release is seriously burdened by an array of unsuitable cinematography choices, some of which are employed unevenly, some of which add nothing particularly meaningful and others that are just plain odd. When combined with the picture’s poorly penned screenplay – one rife with redundant, predictable sequences and tediously dull dialogue that tries to pass itself off as more profound than it genuinely is – viewers are left with an overlong, lackluster narrative that significantly waters down the relevance of the events being chronicled here and that could have easily pruned about 30 minutes from its excessive 2:20:00 runtime. In fact, were it not for the fine performance of Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Ellwood’s loving grandmother, there’s not much else worth watching in this exercise of style over substance. Indeed, how this offering has managed to capture the attention of the critics’ community is truly beyond me. An incensing tale like this deserves much better than what’s on offer in this disappointing slog, yet another of 2024’s disappointing celluloid failures.