by Lisa Nystrom
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Daveed Diggs
Intro:
… innovative and compellingly unique.
Directors shifting the perspective of the camera to better immerse their audience is not a new technique, but rarely is it done with the level of commitment that we see in RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys.
In his adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Ross’s use of first-person perspective is a bold choice that may leave audiences divided, however, what could easily feel forced is instead innovative and compellingly unique.
Set during the Civil Rights movement and based on true events, the film places audiences directly in the shoes of Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse), a bookish young man raised by his grandmother in Frenchtown, Tallahassee.
Elwood has a quick mind and a bright future, but thanks to rampant racism and an unjust legal system, instead of a free ride to college, Elwood finds himself fast-tracked to the brutal Nickel Academy reform school for crimes that he did not commit.
The dichotomy of racial violence inflicted on Elwood, his best friend Turner (Brandon Wilson), and their fellow Nickel Boys during their time at the academy, occurring alongside soundbites from the Apollo 8 mission, are a stark reminder that no matter how evolved a society may believe itself to be, the undercurrent of base barbarity proves that we are only ever as advanced as our weakest link.
Ross’s distinct style, paired with cinematographer Jomo Fray’s impactful visuals, act as a mirror to Elwood’s own journey. Like the young man choosing to believe that things can be better despite the cruelties that he’s endured, the film itself bucks the system and refuses to conform to expectations. Shifting between character POVs and skipping through time, this retelling is somewhere between a diary and a dream. Rather than bear witness from the safety of the cinema, the audience is invited to experience each moment through the eyes of the protagonists, to take part in the journey as intimately and inescapably as if they themselves were living it. Not an easy watch, but a worthwhile one.
