Nickel Boys

 

“There’s only four ways out of Nickel.”

Powerful, profound and heart aching, Nickel Boys is a bold and oracular experience with experimental PoV cinematography being utilised to masterfully explore the racial abuse at the Nickel Academy through the eyes of those who lived it despite the odds against them. 

Discussion Points:

Wow! RaMell Ross’ bold and ambitious approach to creating a fully embodied sensory experience is nothing short of masterful. What could have been an experimental gimmick instead allows Ross to imbue the film with a haunting almost esoteric quality. As we see the history through the eyes of those who lived it, we are powerfully transported into their harsh reality. Jomo Fray’s cinematography is nothing short of astounding and intoxicating. It’s artfully edited as it shifts between points of view and periods in time, yet never losing the anchor of its central duo. Their friendship is genuine until its end. An end that left me heartbroken. Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson share a spark that is magnetic. And as an adaptation of the novel of the same name, their dialogue is rich with truth and sorrow. Whilst Nickel Academy is fictitious, it’s based on the real Dozier Academy and seeing the abuses puts an instant lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. I completely understand the comparisons this has drawn to last years’s The Zone of Interest - another experimental and artful exploration of human atrocity - and Nickel Boys is equally profound and powerful. What a film!