By – Gareth Jones

For fans of RaMell Ross, Colson Whitehead. Innovative and challenging black stories

Colson Whitehead now has two incredible adaptations of his books. In 2021, Barry Jenkins tackled the monumental Underground Railroad with a mini-series.  Now, RaMell Ross has adapted The Nickel Boys and it is one of 2024’s best films.  This is a remarkable achievement as it is only his second feature film and first narrative after his breakthrough documentary Hale County, This Morning,This Evening, and yes that is Hale County in Alabama.  That innovative feature was a strong indication of the artistry that Ross is capable of and that is on full display with The Nickel Boys.  He uses many aesthetic choices, most notably first-person POV camerawork, that immerses the audience in the story of two young, black men who are sentenced to a reform school that in truth is a forced labor camp.  The story begins by showing us through a montage the life of Elwood as he grows up with a loving grandmother, played to with stunning beauty by Aunjenue Ellis-Taylor.  When I look at this performance combined with her work in Lovecraft Country, I firmly believe she is deserving of the highest accolades. She is a powerhouse.  This is all during the Jim Crow-era in 1960s Florida. Sadly, as a young teen trying to get into an HBCU free program, while hitchhiking he gets arrested when the driver turns out to be a car thief.  He is sent to the Nickel Academy and there he meets Turner.  Up to this point all of the camera work has been from the point-of-view from Elwood, but now we also see the point-of-view of Turner as they become friends.  This transition is seamless as we have already been trained to accept this camerawork and it then begins to resemble the standard shot-reverse shot of typical cinematography.  However, we still get these moments of literal reflection when we are shown what these characters look like.  These camera tricks confront us with the immersion, jarring us to reflect on their perspectives.  The film also jumps forward to a behind the head shot of Elwood grown up.  We learn near the end of the film why we jump from a POV shot to a behind the head shot.  All of these techniques envelop us in these stories in a profound way. Ethan Herisse as Elwood and Brandon Wilson as Turner both give eye-opening performances that surely will be just the beginning of great cinematic careers.

At times, this can be a very difficult viewing experience. Much like Jonathon Glazer, Ross makes the conscious decision not to show much of the violence that these men experienced.  It is alluded to or inferred, but we as the audience are fully aware of what is happening.  This is because we have seen this violence shown many times before and in many ways, our imagination of the violence can be worse than the depiction of it.  In this way, just like Zone of Interest, it is a very disconcerting and emotional viewing experience that takes time to process.  I was fortunate that I saw it at the Sidewalk Cinema and was able to participate in a discussion of the film led by Programming Director Corey Craft and Director of Education and Outreach Jessica Chriesman.  They did a brilliant job leading this discussion, walking us through their own viewing experience and giving us the room to process the film together.  It is important to state that although this is a fictional narrative, it is based on the true story of Dozier School in Florida where bodies were found in unmarked sites around the school.  This was only a few years ago, and is a stark reminder of how this is not just the past.  Ross does a masterful job intersecting documentary footage throughout parts of the film, giving historical context.