I was absolutely horrified when I looked into the history of the Dozier School for Boys, a now-closed-down reform school that operated in Florida until 2011 when it was finally shut down after years of accusations of brutality, rape, and murder. Dozier was the largest juvenile reform school for a time in the United States, hosting from 100 to nearly a thousand boys at any one time. While investigations had been launched into the alleged crimes that were taking place there, it wasn’t until 2009 that it failed its first inspection, prompting the governor of Florida to launch a full-on investigation into the facilities. Dozier was the inspiration for the film Nickel Boys, and after watching that film, I was shocked to discover that this was still going on well into the 21st century. We like to think, as a society, that we are more civilized than this, but the truth is this evil is still very much prevalent in modern society; it’s just gotten better at hiding.
Nickel Boys takes place in the 1960s Jim Crow-era Florida. Young African American Elwood Curtis (Ethan Cole Sharp) appears destined for greatness. His Black teacher sees his potential and encourages him to learn and to grow, thinking independently and not relying on the one-sided history the current Southern textbooks are pushing. Being that this is the 60s, the civil rights movement is in full swing, but segregation and racism are still very heavy in the South. Elwood’s grandmother is raising him and doesn’t want him participating in the movement for fear of retaliation, but he does anyway.
One day, Elwood is accepted into a tuition-free accelerated study program at a historically all Black school. While hitchhiking to campus, he is picked up by a man who is driving a stolen car. Shortly afterwards, they are pulled over, and Elwood is arrested for being an accomplice to the crime and sentenced to reform school at Nickel Academy. While promised that good behavior will lead to an early release, in reality, no one gets out before they turn eighteen because the school benefits financially by farming out the residences as workhorses, using them like slave labor. The school is internally segregated, too, with the White boys given far better food, clothing, and accommodations than the Black boys. There is also little effort expended in educating them there.
It is implied that sexual abuse is happening at the school, too. Physical abuse for sure is happening as we see Elwood bullied and beaten by a fellow boy while the administration does nothing to help him. Instead, both boys are afterwards taken and beaten brutally for the incident. When Elwood’s grandmother tries to visit him at the Academy, she is turned away, told that he is too ill to have visitors. Worse than the abuse is the corruption. When the White administrator of Nickel Academy entices one of the boys to take a fall during a boxing exhibition so that he can bet on the other fighter, the boy instead wins the fight. He is quietly killed for this.
There are also scenes that take place much later with an adult Elwood who has escaped this prison and made a life for himself in the moving business. However, not it all as it seems with him. Throughout the course of the film, we will learn his secret, something I will not spoil here, but it impacts the entire outlook of the picture. The past comes back to Elwood when the news starts reporting that unmarked graves have been discovered at Nickel Academy, and the authorities are seeking anyone who would be willing to come forward and testify.
This is a harrowing movie about abuse and slavery that went on right under the noses of the general public. That it happened as recently as 2011 is unbelievable. Yet that is what happened. It was fictionalized in novel form in 2019 by American novelist Colson Whitehead. That book was named one of the best books of the decade by TIME magazine and went on to win the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Now it is a contender for the 2024 Academy Awards for Best Picture. In this packed year with films like The Brutalist and Anora to compete with, it seems unlikely it will get the win. That, coupled with its lack of nominations in any of the other major categories except for the screenplay, seems to suggest the same thing. It is a worthy picture and is a strong statement against allowing this kind of abuse to go unchecked for so long. This subject is so painful that it is sure to make you simultaneously sad and angry. The director utilizes a rarely used technique where most of the film is in the first-person perspective, bouncing between Elwood and his friend Turner (Brandon Wilson), putting us in their shoes so we can see the horrors from their perspectives. It takes some getting used to but is an effective way to build empathy and understanding.
Nickel Boys will catch you off guard, especially if you go into it blind. The film opens with such beautiful imagery, but it turns dark and ends on a very somber note. We are treated to brief imagery of the Jim Crow South as well as cutaways to such pioneers in the civil rights movement as Martin Luther King, Jr and Sidney Poitier, the latter appearing through clips from The Defiant Ones. Having reviewed that film recently, it was still fresh in my mind, and I remembered how Poitier and Curtis started out hating each other and ended up being friends, even though they both ended up back in jail in the end. This film takes things in a different, more dark direction. Even as I write this, hours after having concluded watching the film, I am troubled by that ending and what it all means. I have a feeling this film will stick with me for a long time. I don’t know if I can rewatch it, but I am grateful that I took the time to sit through it anyway.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Joslyn Barnes
Best Adapted Screenplay: RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
____________________________________________________
Release Date: December 13, 2024
Running Time: 140 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, Jimmie Fails, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Directed By: RaMell Ross
Comments
Post a Comment