Nickel Boys (2024)

Almost every shot in Nickel Boys is somebody’s eyes, and for some viewers that will feel like a wall before it feels like a window. RaMell Ross films nearly every scene from Elwood’s or Turner’s point of view, so you see faces looking at them, not the boys themselves. Elwood is a bright, principled kid in 1962 Tallahassee, raised by a loving grandmother, Hattie, and accepted into a college program, until a ride in a stolen car, through no fault of his own, lands him at Nickel Academy, a reform school segregated by race. There he meets Turner, who has learned to expect the worst. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor gives Hattie a love you can feel through the lens. It’s inspired by a real Florida reform school, and it treats that history with care. At 140 minutes it asks for patience, and the style can keep the leads at a distance. An 8.8 because it finds a new way to make you remember. $4,053 says you think of Hattie the next time someone you love waits up for you.

What works: The first-person camera puts you inside Elwood’s and Turner’s lives in a way few films have tried, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is quietly devastating as Hattie.

What doesn’t: The point-of-view style keeps the two leads mostly off screen, which makes it harder to connect with them, and the long runtime tests your patience.

Who it’s for: Viewers ready for a serious, demanding film about American history, and anyone who read the novel.