A Recap of the Movie ‘Nickel Boys’

Movies

Dec 29

Written By VS BRANDS

Plot Synopsis written by Michael Lee

*All Media used in this article is courtesy of Orion Pictures

Official Trailer: ‘Nickel Boys’ (2024)

A Plot Synopsis of the Movie ‘Nickel Boys’

Ethan Herisse stars as Elwood in ‘Nickel Boys’ • Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures/© 2024 Amazon Content Services

The film begins in 1962, in Jim Crow era Tallahassee, Florida. We meet a young African-American boy named Elwood Curtis, who is whip-smart and ambitious. His teacher, Mr. Hill supports Elwood thoroughly, encouraging his academic aspirations and encourages Elwood to develop a strong sense of self and a mode of independent thinking. He tells Elwood to reject his textbooks, as they offer a slanted, narrow view of history.

Ethan Herisse stars as Elwood and Brandon Wilson as Turner in ‘Nickel Boys’ • Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures/© 2024 Amazon Content Services

Elwood is raised by his doting grandmother, Hattie, who becomes nervous that a stereotypical White society will reject her grandson if he begins to participate in the ever evolving Civil Rights Movement. Later, Elwood is accepted into an accelerated study program at HBCU where he receives a tuition free scholarship to attend. To get to HBCU, however, Elwood has to hitchhike, and he is picked up by a man who is driving a stolen car. Thus begins Elwood’s plight of injustice, as he is arrested and convicted of being the man’s accomplice to the car theft. As punishment, Elwood is sent to a reform school called Nickel Academy.

Brandon Wilson stars as Turner in ‘Nickel Boys’ • Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures/© 2024 Amazon Content Services

Nickel Academy is extremely segregated, just as other reformation institutions in the deep South. Led by Spencer, the corrupt white administrator, he seeks to keep segregation at Nickel. The white attendees of Nickel enjoy luxury and special accommodations, as well as personal attention from the Nickel staff. The black attendees of Nickel don’t fare half as well, as they are housed in unkempt facilities, often sexually abused, and the staff cares very little about their actual education. Nickel has a house rule that allows them to be released from Nickel if they practice good behavior. This is true for the White students, but not the Black ones, as they are all kept until they reach eighteen years of age. We later learn that the Nickel School administration makes a significant amount of money hiring out the Black students as convict labor.

While at Nickel Academy, Elwood meets a student named Turner, who is just as quiet and unassuming as Elwood, perhaps moreso. The two are drastically different, however. Turner is cynical and pessimistic, telling Elwood to keep his head down and follow the system. Elwood, however, is inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, championing the nonviolent protests along with their strong democratic ideals. Later, Elwood is beaten by another student. Instead of helping Elwood, the school’s staff beats both Elwood and his bully instead. Upon hearing this, Hattie, Elwood’s grandmother, attempts to scrounge and save to hire a lawyer to appeal his car theft conviction, but the white lawyer runs away with her money, which devastates Elwood.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Hattie in ‘Nickel Boys’ • Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures/© 2024 Amazon Content Services

Sometime later, Elwood and Turner stumble across a conversation where Spencer, Nickel’s white administrator, instructs a black student to ‘take a dive’ at Nicke’s annual Black vs. White boxing match, all so Spencer can win a bet. The Black student declines, so Spencer secretly has him executed.

The rest of the film is shown in a series of flash-forwards and flash-backs, initially showing an adult Elwood running his own moving business. He is scarred by his experience at Nickel Academy, and after recently learning that there were many unmarked graves discovered recently at Nickel, with most of them being Black, he is left psychologically unwell from this revelation. In a flash-back, we learn that Elwood, entirely fed up with the deadly racism, writes a scathing expose about Nickel Academy. He successfully convinces a very timid Turner to deliver it to a government inspector, hoping it would be the catalyst for change. However, nothing happens,

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Hattie and Ethan Herisse as Elwood in ‘Nickel Boys’ • Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures/© 2024 Amazon Content Services

and instead, the administrators of Nickel retaliate against Elwood by torturing him inside the school’s sweatbox. Later, Turner learns that Elwood will be killed. To save his friend, Turner breaks Elwood out of the sweatbox and the two of them run away together. Though, without transportation, the two are quickly caught and pursued. Turner manages to escape to the woods, but Elwood, exhausted from his stint in the sweatbox, cannot keep up, and is shot and killed.

Turner managed to escape to Tallhasse, FLorida, where he delivered the news about Elwood to Hattie, his grandmother. Turner soon moves north and changes his name to Elwood in honor of his friend and his ideals. He attempts to honor Elwood’s spirit and chagrin by building a stable life and fighting for what is fair and just. So many years later, the government is finally investigating Nickel Academy, so Turner, now Elwood, decides to testify about his experiences as the film fades to black.