In the early 1960s in Florida, black teenager Elwood (Ethan Herisse) is a gifted scholar who gets a college place. On the way, he accepts a lift from a stranger, not knowing the car is stolen. He is sent to the Nickel Academy, a brutal reform school based on a notorious real-life institution, The Dozier School for Boys. There, he befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson) and the pair navigate the hardships together.
Director ReMell Ross made some bold decisions whilst filming this adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning book. He uses the 1.33:1 (Academy) aspect ratio and shoots entirely from either the two main protagonists point of view. The idea was for the audience to see the story from their perspective, for us to feel their injustices more deeply.
Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect for me. I found it distracting, considering it from a technical rather than emotional point of view. It also did not help that Ross, apart from one scene, hints at the torture and murders that took place. I was not expecting to see graphic scenes but would like to have had a clearer idea of the extent and frequency of the abuse.
There are a lot of positives though. The performances are all good, particularly Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Elwood’s grandmother. The occasional insertion of photographs of artefacts taken from the site after it closed down have more of an impact than the action on screen and the scenes of who we believe is Elwood’s in later years give an added poignancy as well as show what eventually happened to the school.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10