Nickel Boys

2024 • 139 minutes

About this movie

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead, and from Academy Award® nominee Director, RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys chronicles the bond between two Black teenagers who become wards of a juvenile reformatory in Florida. As truths unfold, their profound friendship offers transformation and awakens hope. Elwood and Turner, both committed to The Nickel Academy, form a bond to cope with the trials and tribulations of being Black at a reform school in early 1960’s segregated Florida. On their own they must lean on each other with little to no communication with their family, as they contend with teachers and staff of the school, a life of manual labor and little to no joy. The film stars a stirring ensemble including Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.