Nickel Boys

Elwood Curtis’s aspirations for college are dashed along a desolate stretch of Florida highway. After being unjustly punished for an innocuous mistake, he finds himself incarcerated in Nickel Academy, a harsh reform school entrenched in the Jim Crow-era South. There, he meets Turner, a fellow inmate with a hardened perspective. Together, they form a tenuous alliance; Turner shares vital survival tactics while Elwood remains steadfast in his hopeful outlook on life. Amid the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the grim reality of Nickel Academy starkly contrasts with Reverend Martin Luther King’s inspiring speeches. Even amidst relentless cruelty, Elwood fights to maintain his humanity, ultimately offering Turner a renewed sense of purpose.