NICKEL BOYS Trailer (2025) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Drama

NICKEL BOYS Trailer (2025) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Drama

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NICKEL BOYS Trailer (2025) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Drama
© 2025 - Amazon MGM Studios

"It's now or never." MGM + Orion have unveiled the second & final trailer for the film Nickel Boys, which has started playing in select US theaters now. This film is a modern masterpiece and will be on my Top 10 of the year, along with many others. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel from Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida. Nickel Boys stars Ethan Herisse as Elwood, Brandon Wilson as Turner, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, & Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. It's presented mainly from the POV of the two main characters, which gives it an especially distinct look and feel. Reviews add: "By the time the credits roll, Ross will have made a lasting & unique impression of heartbreak on the souls of all who watch his film—precisely the cinematic treatment that Whitehead's novel required." I had a chance to watch this film and it's exceptional - it is so powerful, a vibrant story of friendship and tenacity. The cinematography is astounding, it really does invent a new cinema language with everything it shows on this journey of these two young Black men. A must see now that it's playing in theaters - don't miss this one.

Here's the second official trailer for RaMell Ross' masterpiece Nickel Boys, direct from MGM's YouTube:

Nickel Boys Film

You can rewatch the first official trailer for RaMell Ross' Nickel Boys film right here for even more footage.

Elwood Curtis's college dream shatters alongside a two-lane Florida highway. Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he’s sentenced to the netherworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory sunk deep in the Jim Crow South. He encounters another ward, the seen-it-all Turner. The two Black teens strike up an alliance: Turner dispensing fundamental tips for survival, Elwood, clinging to his optimistic worldview. Backdropped by the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, their existence appear worlds away from Rev. Martin Luther King's burnished oratory. Despite Nickel's brutality, Elwood strives to hold onto humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner. Nickel Boys is directed by acclaimed American filmmaker RaMell Ross, his second film after making Hale County This Morning This Evening previously. The screenplay is written by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes. Adapted from the book "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead. Produced by Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine, Joslyn Barnes. This first premiered at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. Orion & MGM will release Nickel Boys in theaters starting December 13th, 2024.
Nickel Boys

Theatrical release poster
Directed by RaMell Ross
Screenplay by
RaMell Ross
Joslyn Barnes
Based on The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
Produced by
Dede Gardner
Jeremy Kleiner
David Levine
Joslyn Barnes
Starring
Ethan Herisse
Brandon Wilson
Hamish Linklater
Fred Hechinger
Daveed Diggs
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Cinematography Jomo Fray[1]
Edited by Nicholas Monsour[1]
Music by
Alex Somers
Scott Alario[2]
Production
companies
Orion Pictures
Plan B Entertainment
Louverture Films
Anonymous Content
Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios
Release dates
August 30, 2024 (Telluride)
December 13, 2024 (United States)
Running time 140 minutes[3]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $23.2 million[4]
Box office $60,844[5]
Nickel Boys is a 2024 American historical drama film based on the 2019 novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. It was directed by RaMell Ross, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes, and stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. The story follows two African American boys, Elwood and Turner, who are sent to an abusive reform school called the Nickel Academy in 1960s Florida. The film is inspired by the historic reform school in Florida called the Dozier School for Boys, which was notorious for abusive treatment of students.

Shot in a first-person point-of-view, filming took place in Louisiana in late 2022. The film premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2024, and is set to have a limited theatrical release by Amazon MGM Studios on December 13, 2024. It received positive reviews from critics and was named one of the top 10 films of 2024 by the American Film Institute.[6] It received several accolades, including a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Drama at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, and five nominations at the 30th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture.

Synopsis
In 1962 Jim Crow era Tallahassee, Florida, young African-American Elwood Curtis appears destined for great things in the classroom. His black teacher encourages him to think for himself, rejecting Southern textbooks' slanted view of history. He is raised by his doting grandmother, who worries that white society will retaliate against him if he participates in the growing Civil Rights Movement. Elwood is accepted into a tuition-free accelerated study program at an HBCU, but while hitchhiking to campus, he is picked up by a man driving a stolen car. The police catch the man and convict Elwood of being his accomplice. Because he is underage, Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy, a reform school based on the real-life Dozier School for Boys.

Nickel is internally segregated. The white children enjoy comfortable accommodations and personal attention from staff. The black children are housed in shabby facilities and the school makes little attempt to educate them. Although the black students are told that they can be released for good behavior, in practice they cannot leave until they turn eighteen, as the school makes money hiring them out as convict labor. In addition, it is implied that some students are sexually abused.

Elwood bonds with Turner, another quiet student. However, while Elwood is inspired by the nonviolent and democratic ideals of the Civil Rights Movement, Turner is cynical, expects only mistreatment from society, and urges Elwood to keep his head down. Elwood is bullied and beaten by another student, but the administrators do not help him: instead, they savagely beat both students. Elwood's grandmother scrimps and saves to hire a lawyer to appeal his conviction, but the lawyer runs away with her money, devastating Elwood. A white school administrator who bets on Nickel's annual black-white boxing match quietly executes a black student who either refused or forgot to take a dive.

In flash-forwards, the adult Elwood lives in New York City, where he runs his own moving business. He does not appear to be in contact with Turner. He is badly shaken after learning that many unmarked graves have been discovered at the old Nickel campus. Forensic evidence reveals that most of the dead students were black.

Back in the 1960s, Elwood, fed up with his mistreatment, writes up an expose and convinces a reluctant Turner to deliver it to a government inspector. However, nothing happens, and the administrators retaliate by torturing Elwood in the school sweatbox. Turner learns that the school plans to kill Elwood. To prevent this, Turner and Elwood run away from school together. However, without a car, they are quickly caught. Turner escapes into the woods, but Elwood is still exhausted from his ordeal in the sweatbox and cannot keep up with him. He is shot and killed.

A montage reveals that Turner safely reached Tallahassee, where he delivered the news of Elwood's death to his grandmother. He then moved North and took on Elwood's name. He marries, builds a stable life, and tries to honor Elwood's legacy by embracing some of his ideals. When the government begins investigating the school, Turner decides to testify about his experiences.

Cast
Ethan Herisse as Elwood, a boy who is sent to reform school after being unjustly convicted for helping steal a car
Ethan Cole Sharp as young Elwood
Daveed Diggs as adult "Elwood," a businessman in New York City
Brandon Wilson as Turner, Elwood's friend at Nickel Academy
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Hattie, Elwood's grandmother
Hamish Linklater as Spencer, Nickel Academy's corrupt white administrator
Fred Hechinger as Harper, a school employee who helps oversee Nickel's convict labor program
Jimmie Fails as Mr. Hill, Elwood's encouraging high school teacher
Production

Director RaMell Ross
The adaptation of Colson Whitehead's 2019 novel, The Nickel Boys, into a feature film was reported in October 2022. RaMell Ross, previously known for his 2018 Academy Award-nominated documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, signed on to direct, making it his narrative feature directorial debut.[7] Joslyn Barnes co-wrote and produced and Whitehead served as executive producer. Aunjanue Ellis, Ethan Herisse, Fred Hechinger, Hamish Linklater, and Brandon Wilson were cast in the lead roles.[8]

On an estimated production budget (before tax incentives) of $23.2 million, principal photography took place in Louisiana from October to December 2022.[4][9] Shooting locations were in LaPlace, New Orleans, Hammond and Ponchatoula. The office building of the Lafourche Parish District Attorney was used as a filming location in Thibodaux in early December.[10]

In a unique filmmaking approach for viewers to see the plot unfold directly through the eyes of the two protagonists, the film was shot in the perspective of the first-person point-of-view with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.[11] Ross explained this process in an interview:

"The film is conceived as all one-ers. In one scene, we shot everything from Elwood's perspective, and then everything from Turner's—one from the first hour, and then the other for the second. Very rarely did we shoot both perspectives on a scene, though, because of the way it was written and scripted. We don’t always go back and forth. So it's shot like a traditional film, except the other character is not there. They're just asked to look at a specific point in the camera. Typically, the other actor is behind the camera, reading the lines and being the support to make the other person feel like they're actually engaged with something relatively real. Because they're all one-ers, though, the choreography is quite difficult".[12]

Release
Nickel Boys had its world premiere at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2024.[13] It was the opening film at the 62nd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall on September 27, 2024.

The film was originally set to have a limited theatrical release in New York City on October 25, 2024 and Los Angeles on November 1, before streaming on Prime Video on an unspecified date.[14] However, the film's release was pushed further, with the film now scheduled to premiere in New York City on December 13 and in Los Angeles on December 20; Amazon MGM Studios is additionally preparing prints on 35mm film for the updated release.[15] It is set to be released by Curzon Film in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2025.[16]

Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 76 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Director RaMell Ross' stylistically radical approach to adapting Colson Whitehead's searing novel will be jarring for some, but Nickel Boys' sense of immersion achieves the jaw-dropping effect of walking in another's shoes."[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 90 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[18]

Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film and cast performances. She highlighted the unique visual style, cinematography, and Ross's artistic portrayal of the novel's story.[2] Pete Hammond writing for Deadline Hollywood criticized the "overlong" runtime and Ross's use of first person POV-style shooting of one character talking to another that is not seen on camera and only heard. He wrote, "It is a dangling conversation approach that goes quickly from being intriguing to being annoying, pointing to artifice rather than serving the story", and added, "I hope it doesn't prevent some audiences from getting the larger point that we should be talking about".[19] Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly felt a disconnection with Elwood and Turner by the POV approach, explaining, "Both Wilson and Herisse give subtle, affecting performances but the first-person approach means they are often not on camera. Their performances are largely experiential, which makes it difficult to connect with their work on an emotional level".[20]

Carla Renata writing for TheWrap applauded Alex Somers and Scott Alario's music score, casting and performances. She expressed: "This may sound like another Black trauma porn motion picture sanctioned by Hollywood to exploit Black history for financial gain. Thankfully, through the lens of Ross, this narrative doesn't fall into that trap we have seen for decades. Ross [...] brings his unique cinematic sensibility, allowing audiences to experience this type of story from a sensory perspective".[21] IndieWire's David Ehrlich gave the film an "A" grade, emphasizing the film's visual style and storytelling technique.[11] David Canfield of Vanity Fair wrote the film's "avant-garde approach is cannily balanced by its moral urgency and aesthetic rigor. Like last year's The Zone of Interest, it all but reinvents the language for movies about a particular, dark historical chapter, and seems primed to spark conversations about both its content and its form".[12]

Sight & Sound put the film as their seventh pick on their list of the best 50 movies of 2024.[7]

Accolades
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Middleburg Film Festival October 20, 2024 Special Achievement in Filmmaking Award RaMell Ross Honored [22]
Chicago International Film Festival October 23, 2024 Vanguard Award Honored [23]
Denver International Film Festival November 10, 2024 Excellence in Directing Award Honored [24]
Stockholm International Film Festival November 15, 2024 Best Film Nickel Boys Won [25]
Camerimage November 23, 2024 Director's Debut Competitions Jomo Fray Nominated [26]
Gotham Awards December 2, 2024 Best Feature RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and David Levine Nominated [27]
Best Director RaMell Ross Won
Breakthrough Performer Brandon Wilson Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards December 3, 2024 Best Director RaMell Ross Won [28]
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Won
Winter IndieWire Honors December 5, 2024 Auteur Award RaMell Ross Won [29]
Astra Film Awards December 8, 2024 Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Nominated [30]
Best Supporting Actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Nominated
Astra Creative Arts Awards December 8, 2024 Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Nominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association December 8, 2024 Cinematography Won [31]
Editing Nicholas Monsour Won[a]
Boston Society of Film Critics December 8, 2024 Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Won [32]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association December 8, 2024 Best Supporting Actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Nominated [33]
Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Nominated
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association December 12, 2024 Best Film Nickel Boys Nominated [34]
Best Director RaMell Ross Won
Best Dapted Screenplay RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Won
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Won
Best Editing Nicolas Monsour Nominated
Milos Stehlik Award for Breakthrough Filmmaker RaMell Ross Won
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle December 15, 2024 Best Film Nickel Boys Pending [35]
Best Director RaMell Ross Pending
Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes Pending
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Pending
St. Louis Film Critics Association December 15, 2024 Best Film Nickel Boys Nominated [36]
Best Director RaMell Ross Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Won
Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Nominated
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Nominated
Best Editing Nicholas Monsour Won
Best First Feature RaMell Ross Won
New York Film Critics Online December 16, 2024 Best Director Pending [37]
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Pending
Seattle Film Critics Society December 16, 2024 Best Cinematography Pending [38]
Golden Globe Awards January 5, 2025 Best Motion Picture – Drama Nickel Boys Pending [39]
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards January 11, 2025 Best Supporting Actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Pending [40]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards January 12, 2025 Best Picture Nickel Boys Pending [41]
Best Director RaMell Ross Pending
Best Supporting Actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Pending
Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes Pending
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Pending
African-American Film Critics Association February 2, 2025 Gen Next Award Brandon Wilson and Ethan Herisse Honored [42]
Karen & Stanley Kramer Social Justice Award Nickel Boys Honored
February 19, 2025 Spotlight Award RaMell Ross Honored
Independent Spirit Awards February 22, 2025 Best Feature Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and David Levine Pending [43]
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Pending
Alliance of Women Film Journalists TBA Best Film Nickel Boys Pending [44]
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Pending
Best Adapted Screenplay RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Colson Whitehead Pending
Best Cinematography Jomo Fray Pending
Notes
Tied with Hansjörg Weißbrich for September 5
References
"Nickel Boys". New York Film Festival. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
Gyarkye, Lovia (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boys Review: RaMell Ross' Remarkable Colson Whitehead Adaptation Takes Risks That Pay Off". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
"Nickel Boys (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. September 19, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
"Fastlane NextGen: Initial Certification Search" (Type "Nickel Boys" in the search box). Louisiana Economic Development. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
"Nickel Boys (2024)". The Numbers. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
Davis, Clayton (December 5, 2024). "AFI Awards: 'Anora,' 'Emilia Pérez' and 'Wicked' Among 10 Best Films, Top TV Shows Include 'The Penguin' and 'Shogun'". Variety.
The 50 best films of 2024|Sight & Sound
Grobar, Matt (October 27, 2022). "Aunjanue Ellis & Four Others Set For RaMell Ross' Colson Whitehead Adaptation The Nickel Boys For MGM's Orion; Plan B, Anonymous Producing". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
"Casting call announced for Nickel Boys; filming planned for LaPlace". L'Observateur. September 16, 2022. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
Campo, Colin (December 5, 2022). "Hollywood comes to Thibodaux: Filming underway for The Nickel Boys". The Daily Comet. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
Ehrlich, David (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boys Review: RaMell Ross' Colson Whitehead Adaptation Is a Staggeringly Beautiful Story of Resilience". IndieWire. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
Canfield, David (August 31, 2024). "The Making of Nickel Boys: How a Pulitzer-Winning Novel Became a Radical, Harrowing Film". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
Davis, Clayton (August 29, 2024). "Telluride Festival Lineup Includes Nickel Boys, The Piano Lesson and Saturday Night With Tributes for Jacques Audiard and Saoirse Ronan". Variety. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
Feinberg, Scott (August 31, 2024). "Telluride: Nickel Boys, Adapted from Colson Whitehead's Book, Will Challenge Oscar Voters". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 2, 2024). "Orion Pictures & Amazon MGM Studio's 'Nickel Boys' Now Opening Mid December". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
"All Future Releases". Film Distributors' Association. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
"Nickel Boys". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 14, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
"Nickel Boys". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
Hammond, Pete (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boys Review: Film Version Of Colson Whitehead's Acclaimed Novel Is Flawed But Artistic Journey To Hell And Back — Telluride Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
Lenker, Maureen Lee (September 1, 2024). "Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel gets a staggering, abstract adaptation in 'Nickel Boys'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
Renata, Carla (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boy Brings Searing Tale of Injustice to Telluride". TheWrap. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
"AwardsWatch - 2024 Middleburg Film Festival Honorees Include RaMell Ross, Danielle Deadwyler; Ed Lachman to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award". AwardsWatch. September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
Roche, Barbara (September 24, 2024). "60th Chicago International Film Festival full lineup and schedule". Reel Chicago News. Retrieved September 26, 2024.</ref name=":2" "Nickel Boys". Chicago Film Festival. October 21, 2024. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
"47th Denver Film Festival". denverfilmfestival.eventive.org. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
The winners of Stockholm International Film Festival 2024|Stockholms filmfestival
"Directors' Debuts Competition 2024 Lineup!". Camerimage. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
Goldsmith, Jill (October 29, 2024). "Gotham Awards Nominations: 'Anora' Leads Pack, 'Challengers' & 'Nickel Boys' Among Group Up For Best Feature". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
Davis, Clayton (December 3, 2024). "New York Film Critics Circle 2024 Winners List: 'The Brutalist' Named Best Film". Variety.
Jones, Kate Erbland,Marcus (November 14, 2024). "Denis Villeneuve, Pamela Anderson, Steve McQueen, and More to Be Celebrated at IndieWire Honors". IndieWire. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
Pond, Steve (November 25, 2024). "'Wicked' Leads Nominations for Astra Film Awards". TheWrap. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
Richlin, Harrison (December 8, 2024). "'Anora' Wins Best Picture from Los Angeles Film Critics Association — Winners List". IndieWire. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
"BSFC Names 'Anora' Best Film of 2024". Boston Society of Film Critics. November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
Neglia, Matt (December 8, 2024). "The 2024 Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) Winners". Next Best Picture. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
"The 2024 Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
"2024 San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) Nominations". AwardsWatch. December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
"The 2024 St. Louis Film Critics Association (StLFCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
"The 2024 New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) Nominations". Next Best Picture. December 9, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
Josh (December 6, 2024). "Seattle Film Critics Society announce 2024 nominees". The SunBreak. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
Barnard, Matthew (December 9, 2024). "NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR 82nd ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES®". Golden Globes. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
Lewis, Hilary (November 20, 2024). "Movies for Grownups Awards: 'Conclave' Leads With 6 Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
Evans, Greg (December 12, 2024). "'Conclave' And 'Wicked' Lead Critics Choice Awards Film Nominations – Full List". Deadline. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
"AwardsWatch - African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Honorees: 'Nickel Boys,' 'The Piano Lesson' Filmmakers and Casts and More". AwardsWatch. November 27, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
Lang, Brent; Moreau, Jordan (December 4, 2024). "Spirit Awards 2025 Nominations: 'Anora' and 'I Saw the TV Glow' Lead Film Categories, 'Shōgun' Rules TV". Variety. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
"The 2024 EDA Award Nominees". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
External links
Official website
Nickel Boys at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
vte
Plan B Entertainment
vte
Colson Whitehead
vte
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
Categories: 2024 films2024 drama films2024 independent films2020s American filmsAmerican drama filmsAmerican historical drama filmsDrama films based on actual eventsAmerican historical filmsAmerican independent filmsAmerican films based on actual eventsFilms based on American novelsOrion Pictures filmsAmazon MGM Studios filmsPlan B Entertainment filmsAnonymous Content filmsFilms produced by Dede GardnerFilms shot in LouisianaFilms shot from the first-person perspectiveFilms about racism in the United StatesFilms set in 1962Films set in 2010Films set in the 1960s
The Nickel Boys

First edition cover
Author Colson Whitehead
Audio read by JD Jackson[1]
Colson Whitehead
Cover artist Neil Libbert (photograph)[2]
Oliver Munday (design)
Language English
Set in Florida and New York City[3]
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date July 16, 2019
Publication place United States
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 224
Awards Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Kirkus Prize for Fiction
Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
ISBN 978-0-385-53707-0
Dewey Decimal 813.54
LC Class PS3573.H4768 N53 2019
The Nickel Boys is a 2019 novel by American novelist Colson Whitehead. It is based on the historic Dozier School, a reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and was revealed as highly abusive. A university investigation found numerous unmarked graves for unrecorded deaths and a history into the late 20th century of emotional and physical abuse of students.

TIME named it one of best books of the decade.[4] The Nickel Boys won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.[5] Judges of the prize called the novel "a spare and devastating exploration of abuse at a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida that is ultimately a powerful tale of human perseverance, dignity and redemption."[6] It is Whitehead's second win, making him the fourth writer in history to have won the prize for fiction twice.[7]

A film adaptation was released on December 13, 2024.

Plot
The narrative alternates between the 2010s and the 1960s. In the present, Elwood Curtis is an African-American business owner in New York City. As an investigation into the defunct Nickel Academy begins to expose the school's hidden history of atrocities, including many secretly buried bodies on the premises, many men who were incarcerated at Nickel Academy as boys are coming forward to share their experiences of abuse. Curtis is forced to confront the lasting effects of his experiences there.

In 1960s Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis is a studious African-American high school student with an idealistic sense of justice inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights marches. He is selected to attend university classes due to his intelligence. However, on the first day of classes he hitchhikes with an African-American man; when they are pulled over and it is discovered that the vehicle was stolen, Elwood is convicted as a delinquent and sent to Nickel Academy, a juvenile reformatory in Eleanor, Florida. Boys at Nickel Academy receive poor education, are made to perform hard labor, and frequently receive brutal corporal punishment. The staff also overlook and cover up sexual abuse and trips "out back" for punishment, from which some boys never return. The students are segregated by race, with Black boys facing worse treatment. Elwood befriends fellow student Turner, who has a more cynical view of the world and Nickel's administration. Elwood attempts to serve his time without incident, but is seriously beaten on two occasions: once for intervening to help a boy being attacked by sexual assaulters, and another when writing a letter to government authorities detailing the academy's poor conditions and corruption. After Turner overhears of a plan to have Elwood killed by the administration, the two attempt an escape. Elwood is shot dead while Turner escapes; it is revealed that Turner falsely adopted Elwood's identity and attempted to live up to his ideals when he was free.

In the 2010s, with an investigation into Nickel Academy ongoing, "Elwood Curtis" reveals his history and real name, Jack Turner, to his wife, then flies to Tallahassee to give testimony of his friend's fate.

Characters
Whitehead has described the characters as "two different parts of my personality", with Elwood Curtis being "the optimistic or hopeful part of me that believes we can make the world a better place if we keep working at it", and Jack Turner, "the cynical side that says no—this country is founded on genocide, murder, and slavery and it will always be that way."[8]

Development and writing
Main article: Florida School for Boys
After dealing with slavery in his Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Underground Railroad, Whitehead did not want to write "another heavy book." However, he felt the election of Donald Trump compelled him to do so.[9] Whitehead deliberately narrowed the scope of the book and grounded it for the sake of realism, choosing not to include the speculative or fantastic elements of his other novels Zone One or The Underground Railroad.[9]

The Nickel Boys is set at a fictionalized version of the Dozier School for Boys, dubbed Nickel Academy.[10] Whitehead first heard of the real life Dozier School on Twitter in 2014.[9] The school opened in 1900 and closed in 2011. The state of Florida ran Dozier, in Marianna, as a reform school.[11] After decades of allegations against the school for allowing the beatings, rapes, torture, and even murder of students by guards and employees, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began an investigation of the claims in 2010, followed by additional investigations by the United States Department of Justice in 2011, and an ongoing forensic investigation by Erin Kimmerle at the University of South Florida which began in 2012.[12][13] The Department of Justice investigation revealed "systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices exacerbated by a lack of accountability and controls".[14] The University of South Florida investigation discovered some 55 graves on school grounds by December 2012, and has continued to identify potential grave sites as recently as March 2019.[15]

Reception
According to Book Marks, the novel received a cumulative "rave" rating based on fifty-three reviews: forty-one "rave" reviews, ten "positive" reviews, one "mixed" review, and one "pan" review.[16] On Bookmarks September/October 2019 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "As NPR concludes, "It's a great American novel".[17][18]

Parul Sehgal, in The New York Times, wrote, "Whitehead has written novels of horror and apocalypse; nothing touches the grimness of the real stories he conveys here."[19] The Washington Post critic Ron Charles wrote, "It shreds our easy confidence in the triumph of goodness and leaves in its place a hard and bitter truth about the ongoing American experiment."[20]

NPR's Maureen Corrigan said "It's a masterpiece squared, rooted in history and American mythology and, yet, painfully topical in its visions of justice and mercy erratically denied."[21]

The New Republic wrote, "The Nickel Boys is fiction, but it burns with outrageous truth."[22] Meanwhile, The Guardian wrote, "[Whitehead] demonstrates to superb effect how racism in America has long operated as a codified and sanctioned activity intended to enrich one group at the expense of another."[23]

The book received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, which noted "Whitehead’s novel displays its author’s facility with violent imagery and his skill at weaving narrative strands into an ingenious if disquieting whole."[24]

Awards and recognition
Winner, 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction[25]
Winner, 2019 Kirkus Prize for Fiction[26]
Winner, 2020 Alex Award[27]
Longlist, 2019 National Book Award for Fiction[28]
Finalist, 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction[29]
Winner, 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction[30][31]
Finalist, 2020 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator[32]
Film adaptation
Main article: Nickel Boys
In October 2022, a film adaptation of The Nickel Boys by MGM's Orion Pictures was announced. RaMell Ross, who will direct the film, adapted the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes. The film's cast will include Aunjanue Ellis, Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater and Fred Hechinger. Whitehead will serve as executive producer of the film.[33] The film was released under the title Nickel Boys on December 13, 2024, by Amazon MGM Studios.[34]

References
"The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead". Penguin Random House Audio.
"Brilliant Book Covers: The Best Covers of July 2019". Bookish. 24 April 2015.
Wagner, Erica (July 26, 2019). "The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead — racism in America". Financial Times. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
"The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: 9780385537070 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
Lee, Benjamin (May 4, 2020). "Colson Whitehead and This American Life among Pulitzer 2020 winners". The Guardian. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
Maher, John (May 4, 2020). "Moser, Whitehead, McDaniel, Grandin, Boyer, Brown Win 2020 Pulitzers". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
Tucker, Emma (May 4, 2020). "Colson Whitehead Wins Second Pulitzer Prize for Fiction". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
Israel, Yahdon (July 16, 2019). ""The Outrage Was So Large and So Secret": Colson Whitehead Talks Hope, Despair, and Fighting the Power in The Nickel Boys". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
Israel, Yahdon (July 16, 2019). ""The Outrage Was So Large and So Secret": Colson Whitehead Talks Hope, Despair, and Fighting the Power in The Nickel Boys". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
Grady, Constance (July 18, 2019). "Colson Whitehead's spare, riveting, horrifying Nickel Boys". Vox. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
Allen, Greg (October 15, 2012). "Florida's Dozier School For Boys: A True Horror Story". NPR. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
Kimmerle, Erin. "Interim Report for the Investigations in the Boot Hill Cemetery, Located at the Former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, Marianna, Florida. Documentation of the Boot Hill Cemetery (8JA1860) at the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Interim Report, Division of Historical Resources. University of South Florida" (PDF).
Kimmerle, Erin H. (2022). We carry their bones: the search for justice at the Dozier School for Boys (First ed.). New York, NY: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-303024-4. OCLC 1331557745.
United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Investigation of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and the Jackson Juvenile Offender Center, Marianna, Florida. 1 December 2011, accessed 15 June 2012.
Montgomery, Ben (April 11, 2019). "More 'possible graves' found at Dozier School for Boys". Tampa Bay Times.
"The Nickel Boys". Book Marks. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
"The Nickel Boys". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
"The Nickel Boys". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
Sehgal, Parul (July 11, 2019). "In 'The Nickel Boys,' Colson Whitehead Continues to Make a Classic American Genre His Own". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
Charles, Ron. "In Colson Whitehead's 'The Nickel Boys,' an idealistic black teen learns a harsh reality". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
"Rooted In History, 'The Nickel Boys' Is A Great American Novel". NPR.org. Retrieved August 8, 2019. - Alternate link at Houston Public Media
Livingstone, Josephine (July 30, 2019). "Colson Whitehead, American Escape Artist". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
Forna, Aminatta (July 26, 2019). "The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead review – essential follow-up to The Underground Railroad". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
"The Nickel Boys". Kirkus Reviews. January 20, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
"The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction". The Pulitzer Prizes.
"Colson Whitehead Novel Wins $50,000 Kirkus Prize". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. October 24, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2002.
"2020 Youth Media Award Winners". American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
"2019 Winners", National Book Awards, National Book Foundation.
Kellogg, Carolyn (January 11, 2020). "Announcing the finalists for the 2019 NBCC Awards". National Book Critics Circle.
"Longlists for the Orwell Prize 2018 revealed". The Orwell Foundation. April 9, 2018.
"Clanchy, Whitehead win 2020 Orwell Prize". Books+Publishing. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
"2020 Audie Awards" Archived 2020-02-03 at the Wayback Machine.
Grobar, Matt (October 27, 2022). "Aunjanue Ellis & Four Others Set For RaMell Ross' Colson Whitehead Adaptation 'The Nickel Boys' For MGM's Orion; Plan B, Anonymous Producing". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
"Amazon MGM Studios & Orion Set Fall Release for Feature Take of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel 'Nickel Boys'". 30 April 2024.
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Categories: 2019 American novelsAfrican-American novelsNovels by Colson WhiteheadNovels set in FloridaNovels set in New York CityDoubleday (publisher) booksPulitzer Prize for Fiction–winning worksKirkus Prize–winning worksNovels about educationAmerican novels adapted into films
Ellis-Taylor had an unexpected experience filming Nickel Boys with unique POV style shooting.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars in The Nickel Boys, a film by RaMell Ross, shot in a unique POV style without traditional coverage.
Ellis-Taylor discusses the challenges of befriending the camera and preparing for abstract scenes in the film.
Academy Award-nominated actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has been instrumental in bringing the stories of Black America to life on the big screen for decades. Most recently, she's led Ava DuVernay's sobering exploration of racism in Origin. She mothered two of the greatest tennis players of all time in King Richard and rounded out the stunning cast of The Color Purple, the musical adaption from 2023. Now she's joined filmmaker RaMell Ross' critically acclaimed narrative feature debut, Nickel Boys.

Adapted by Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel of the same name and inspired by the infamously violent Dozier School for Boys, Nickel Boys is a unique take on a tragically familiar story. Set in both present day and 1962, the film follows Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) after he is falsely accused by cops of being an accomplice to stealing a car. Sent to reform school, Nickel Academy, Elwood befriends another young boy named Turner (Brandon Wilson), and we follow their journey of surviving abuse and corruption within the walls of the school.

In this interview, Collider's Steve Weintraub sits down with Ellis-Taylor to talk about why she had to be a part of Nickel Boys. They discuss some of Ross' more abstract direction, his entirely unexpected and new way of shooting the feature, and how the film's POV style led Ellis-Taylor to befriend the camera as "a proxy for the love of [her] life."

‘Law & Order’ Was More Than a Rite of Passage for Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Law and Order SVU cast Image via NBC
COLLIDER: I really want to start with congratulations on this movie. I thought everyone did such a great job.

AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR: Thank you.

I do like throwing a curveball at the beginning of interviews. So for you, in your career, you've done a lot of guest spots on television shows, especially early in your career. Did you have a favorite?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: [Laughs] Man, the guest spots! TV guest spots. Listen, them checks? Out of the blue, you'll get a residual, and your rent is paid. I love that. Well, it was more than a guest spot, but I did a couple episodes of True Blood. That was really fun. I've done two Law & Orders, and it was a dream of mine to be on Law & Order. I was in New York for the longest time, and I never got cast on Law & Order. Then I left New York, and then finally got a job on Law & Order.

For people who don't realize, that's like the rite of passage for people in New York.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Yes!

Were you on Law & Order or Law & Order: SVU?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: I was on Law & Order: SVU, and I was on Law & Order [Criminal Intent] with Vincent D'Onofrio.

The Way ‘Nickel Boys’ Was Filmed “Shook” Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor at First
“There is no coverage. It’s just you.”

Jumping into why I get to talk to you, one of the things that I think is so cool about this movie is the way RaMell shot it, the use of POV. What was your reaction when you first heard that, and what was it like to actually be on set watching that unfold?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Well, I didn't hear that until I was on set watching it unfold. So, I had no preparation for that at all. I didn't know that that is what he was going to do. I read the script, but I didn't get it. I didn't understand that's what was happening. I didn't know until I was actually there on my first day because I asked the question, “What is the coverage going to be like?” And he said, “There is no coverage. It’s just you.” So, yeah, that shook me a bit.

What people don't realize is you're trained to never look at the lens, and in this, you need to look at the lens.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: All the time. I just worked with a young actor, his name is Brady. He is the sweetest, most charming little boy, but he's seven years old, and the director would have to come up to him and say, “Brady, what are the rules, Brady?” And Brady would say, “Don't look at the camera.” Brady was always looking at the dang old camera! So yeah, you're not supposed to look at the camera, but with this, you had to look at the camera. You had to befriend the camera, and it was a proxy for the love of my life, which was my grandson.

What day did you get used to it, or did you never get used to it?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Well, you had to get used to it. I wouldn't say “getting used to it,” but I had to use it, as opposed to seeing it as something that stood in the way of me doing my job.

Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) looking to the side toward camera and smiling in Nickel BoysImage via Amazong MGM Studios
I read that this was a project that you really went after, or am I wrong about this?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: I went after RaMell. I saw Hale County [This Morning, This Evening], and I just dug that so much. Did you see that?

I have not seen the whole movie, which I'm embarrassed to say.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: No, it’s okay.

There's just too much to watch.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Yeah, I understand. But when you can, watch that. It's so extraordinary. I saw it, and I just was so stunned by it — stunned by how familiar it was. I just wanted to tell him. It wasn't that I was like, “I want to be in your next movie!” I just wanted to tell him how he made me feel, you know? Then, a couple years later, yeah, I stalked him. I called Brown — I knew he worked at Brown — I called him and was like, “Can I speak to Ross?” They're like, “No.” Then, a couple years later, he invited me into this world with him.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s Toughest Moment Didn’t Make the Final Cut
“It was a little bit abstract.”
Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) smiling toward the camera with her head tilted in Nickel BoysImage via Amazon MGM Studios
I am fascinated by the way actors get ready for their first day on set. What was it like for you inhabiting this character? What were you doing in preparation before that first day?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: I was in North Carolina. I was finishing a job, and I was walking the shores of North Carolina a lot. There are a lot of unincorporated beach towns on the shores of North Carolina, so I remember just walking, walking, and walking, and talking to myself. I just had shaved all my hair off — I had less hair than you.

I don't know if that's possible.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Yes. Yeah, it is. I remember trying to gather myself for what I was about to do.

I'm also fascinated by difficult moments on set, so I am curious which shot or sequence in this film ended up being the most challenging, whether because of the camera move, whether because of dialogue or emotion.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Well, what was one of the most difficult things ended up not being in the movie. I’m like, “I went through all that, and it ain’t even in the middle of the movie?” It was a scene where RaMell wanted Hattie to have this kind of breakdown a little bit. She was trying to seek Elwood out in her kitchen. There was no real direction for it, but it was just, “Find him.” It was a little bit abstract, so that was very difficult and challenging. But it's not in the film, so you won't see it.

I was thinking it was in relation to when you're going to the school, but obviously, it is a completely different scene.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Yeah, it’s different.

You're in Liz Here Now, which is coming up, and also, I think you're going to Bulgaria soon to do Lucky Strike.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Oh, well, I'm not going to get to go to Bulgaria.

You're not doing Lucky Strike?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: I am, but I'm not going. I don't get to go to Bulgaria. We’re gonna do stuff in America.

Got it.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: I'm going to do my little thing in America.

What can you tease about both projects?

ELLIS-TAYLOR: Liz Here Now is directed by Sterling Macer. She is a woman who sees some children suffering violence and does something a little revolutionary inside of a home to protect these children. And it stars Brady. “Don't look at the camera!”

[Laughs] When I watch this movie down the road, I will think of this.

ELLIS-TAYLOR: You will think of Brady.

Nickel Boys is in theaters now.

nickel-boys-2025-film-poster.jpg
9
10
Nickel Boys
PG-13
Drama
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Director
RaMell Ross
Cast
Ethan Herisse , Brandon Wilson , Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor , Hamish Linklater , Fred Hechinger , Daveed Diggs , Luke Tennie , Sunny Mabrey , Gralen Bryant Banks , Sara Osi Scott , Rachel Whitman Groves , Escalante Lundy , LeBaron Foster Thornton , Ethan Cole Sharp , Najah Bradley , Mike Harkins , Jimmie Fails
Runtime
140 Minutes
Writers
RaMell Ross , Joslyn Barnes , Colson Whitehead
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Interviews
Movie
Movie
Aunjanue Ellis
As an actor, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has never regarded the camera as her ally.

“I’ve always felt like it was an enemy, because it feels intrusive,” says Ellis-Taylor, folding her legs under her on the couch in a West Hollywood hotel as she discusses her latest role in “Nickel Boys.”

Movie sets are like construction sites, where filmmakers build a world out of nothing. There, in the middle of all that hammering and people rigging lights, “actors are asked to transform and have a human experience with a big-ass piece of machinery that is a foot away from you,” she says. “And then you’re not supposed to look at it.”

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“Nickel Boys” — in which she plays Hattie, the dutiful grandmother of a teenage boy wrongfully sentenced to attend a brutal reform school — presented a unique challenge. Director RaMell Ross shot the harrowing drama in a distinct visual style, with Ellis-Taylor staring down the lens of the camera instead of into the eyes of a human scene partner. “Then I get this job, and I have to make it my friend. I have to have an intimate relationship with it and embrace it.”

Popular on Variety
The experimental setup was difficult to get used to, even for an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor. Ultimately, Ellis-Taylor found the feelings of isolation and loneliness it sparked to be useful — they reflected Hattie’s reality as she fought for justice for her grandson. “Nickel Boys” is based the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning novel from Colson Whitehead, which fictionalizes events at the real Dozier School for Boys, where more than 100 students died from abuse.

The Amazon MGM film has been gaining steam along the awards season circuit, with a Golden Globe nomination for best motion picture – drama, as well as wins at the Gotham Awards, inclusion on AFI’s top 10 film list and other kudos from various critics organizations. Ellis-Taylor will be recognized with the Social Impact Award at the Critics Choice Association Celebration of Black Cinema and Television.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in “Nickel Boys.”
Courtesy of Orion Pictures
“Nickel Boys,” which opens in limited release on Friday, caps off a banner year for Ellis-Taylor, who has starring or major supporting roles in four films — the others are Lee Daniels’ “The Deliverance,” Titus Kaphar’s “Exhibiting Forgiveness” and Tina Mabry’s “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can Eat.” (Technically, it’s five, if you include Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” which debuted in December 2023 and expanded in January.) It’s a showcase for her prodigious, multifaceted talent: Ellis-Taylor plays a reverend recruited to conduct an exorcism; a faithful mother urging her adult son to reconcile with his recovering-addict father; and the feisty one in a trio of lifelong friends.

“I don’t want to be myself on-screen. I do me all the time, you know. I want to play women who I am stunned and marveled by,” Ellis-Taylor says of what attracted her to these parts, which explore different aspects of Black womanhood. If there’s a thread among them, it’s that they’re all “inconvenient women.” She explains: “This might be a little simplistic, but I think all of these women are particularly inconvenient for the political or the cultural structures in their lives.”

It’s been a remarkable run, yet Ellis-Taylor is not entirely convinced the bounty of meaty roles is going to last. “I don’t take it for granted that it will, you know what I mean?” she says. “I don’t know what is on the horizon at all.”

Ellis-Taylor earned her first Academy Award nomination in 2021 for “King Richard,” but says the industry didn’t respond with offers for more interesting parts.

“Speaking truthfully, no,” Ellis-Taylor says plainly. “I don’t mean this in any disparaging way, but I look at the roles Nicole Kidman gets to play, and Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore — these are my contemporaries. The diversity of the roles they get to play, the volume, I will never experience that. And that’s incredibly frustrating.”

In fact, when Ellis-Taylor sits down with Variety in mid-November, she’s trying to decide whether to sign on for a new project. It’s a great offer, but she’s not sure if she’s taking the role because she’s passionate about the material or worried the big opportunity won’t come again.

“I’m saying things to myself [like], ‘Who am I to pass on something?’ and ‘Girl, you better take that job!’ That’s the voice that I’m hearing,” she admits, explaining she’s worried that making a decision out of fear will affect the work she’s going to do. But the reality is that there might not be 20 more jobs down the line for her to sort through.

Ellis-Taylor has observed and experienced a “lack of curiosity about the lives of Black women that extends into every facet of our lives — politically, within the arts and entertainment, whatever.” For example, after a recent screening of “Origin” at her alma mater, Brown University, a man shared that her portrayal of Isabel Wilkerson, author of the book on which the film is based, marked the first time he’d seen a Black woman scholar on-screen.

“Black women are boundless, but the aperture is so small in how we are seen,” Ellis-Taylor says, sounding more determined than disheartened. “It’s exciting for me to do that kind of work.”

Read on as Ellis-Taylor reflects on her standout year.

I read that you approached RaMell Ross — did you already have “Nickel Boys” in mind when you reached out?
I didn’t know he was going to do “Nickel Boys.” I saw “Hale County, This Morning, This Evening” and I was stunned. And my feeling of being stunned was matched by my feeling of familiarity. I had not experienced that in any narrative or documentary work that was about Black life in the South. No matter what medium it is, I’ve always felt that I was watching the work of an observer. I was watching the work of a foreigner who parachuted in, took a couple pictures and left. [With] this, I saw kindred. I was like, “Who is my kinfolk? I need to know this person, and I need them to know what they did to me when I when I experienced their filmmaking.

So, that’s why I called the general office number at Brown [where Ross is an associate professor in the visual art department] and asked to speak to him — with no success. Then I found his email that he never checks, but I just had to tell him how I felt. I felt witnessed in a way that I had not before. You can witness something from afar, but I felt someone was amen-ing my existence, meaning, “I get it. I get you. I’m here with you.” That’s what I felt from him. And then, a couple years later, I hear rumors of [“Nickel Boys”] happening and they came to me.

Ross used a similar form of POV in “Hale County,” but doing it in a narrative film is bold and experimental — especially as his narrative feature debut. What was it like being a part of and contributing to that process?
I didn’t know how bold until I got to work the first day. I had no clue. When I read the script, I just thought that there was just something that they forgot to put in because, you know, he’s a first-time filmmaker. [I thought,] “I’ll talk to him.” I got there and it was like, “No, it’s written that way because that’s what we intended.” There is no coverage. It’s just you. I was like, “Whoa.”

What was that process of learning to embrace it?
It was not easy. But nothing is. I can do a scene with a person and there’s no connection there and you have to fight for connection. Ultimately, it was very isolating. It’s very lonely; but, at a certain point, I realized this is how she feels. Hattie is lonely; she’s by herself, so it helped.

This summer, “The Deliverance” hit No. 1 on Netflix and got everybody…
Mad. Say it. Everybody was pissed off [laughs].

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in “The Deliverance.”
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
But it was still so enjoyable — though I was skeptical about watching because, after growing up in the Black church, I don’t really engage with things about possession. But this felt like a chance to engage with something based on a true story that also was specific to Black life, especially as it relates to demons. What was your experience of “The Deliverance”?
I had a good time playing Apostle Bernice! There was more than one preacher who told their congregation, “Don’t watch that film,” and someone even said, “It is demonic,” so that’s what we were dealing with. I was here for all the drama about it. I thought it was so funny and amusing and good, because how Black folks deal with demons is different than how white people deal with demons. And that’s why I wanted to do it.

Lee had me work with this man, Apostle Louis Dickens. He is a Black apostle, and he does this kind of work, especially in West Africa, he does most of his work in Ghana. It wasn’t my spiritual tradition, not my religious history at all, but it is a kind of ministry and it is Blackety, Black, Black, Black. That’s what was exciting to me — that these Black folks would save themselves, not some dude in a frock coming in and doing the work for us.

With “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” you worked with celebrated artist Titus Kaphar in his feature directorial debut. He told me that because he was less experienced with directing than you and the rest of the cast are as actors, much of your conversations were about finding personal connections to the characters versus him giving you direction. What was it like working with him on a story that sprung from his own life experiences?
Playing this man’s mama in front of him — lord, today! I’ve played the mother of famous people, but they weren’t around. Then add to that that he’s directing you. What that boiled down to for me was I really wanted to do the best I could by him.

Andre Holland and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in “Exhibiting Forgiveness.”
©Roadside Attractions/Courtesy Everett Collection
He had expansive conversations — and not one-sided ones, like “Let me tell you about my life.” It was more like “Let’s talk about our shared experience.” So when we got on set it was a very rich, deep well to pull from because of those conversation I talked about my alienation from, my Black church experience being a queer woman and being a woman. And he talked about his and what that was like. He talked about why he needed to do this story at this moment in his life that is so personal. It’s not a memoir and it is.

I was talking to a woman who’s writing a memoir now, and she said someone told her, “You essentially have to become the person you were again. You’re looking at yourself and judging what you were, but in order to do that, you have to become that person again.” [“Exhibiting Forgiveness”] was memoir filmmaking in that way: the things that he’s trying to run from, he had to go back to. It’s a complicated thing he was doing that we were a part of.

What stands out about “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can Eat”?
I loved getting to work with Sanaa Lathan. I really wanted to work with her. I didn’t have designs on it, because we’ve not crossed paths in that way, but I think she dope. So I was so excited!

Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Sanaa Lathan in “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You Can Eat.”
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
I don’t get to work with women very much. I’m always in these in stories that revolve around men. That’s why I loved doing “The Deliverance” and “The Supremes,” particularly because it was a culture and a community of women that they focused around. All of that showed and felt what was possible for Black women getting to be friends on camera and not be enemies, and not throwing drinks at each other. None of that stuff. It is a celebration of Black women friendship.

You’re receiving the Social Impact Award from Critics Choice — which speaks to the idea that the films you do speaks to Black people’s humanity and makes an impact on how we are seen. How do you see your on-camera work as an extension of the work you do as an activist?
I’ve had hard conversations about “Nickel Boys.” People have said, “Where’s the hope in it?” or “It’s hard to watch.” We are giving witness and an account of something — a brutalization against American children that happened in a school by adults who were essentially charged to be providers and caregivers for these children. And it wasn’t just the school and the people who were the teachers; it was a community of folks who profited from this brutality. It should be hard to watch.

And as far as the hope is concerned, I think we have arrived at a level of complacency as consumers of cinema that we can luxuriate in watching films that are about something about hell and expect to come out of it feeling better about ourselves. That is a privilege that we should not allow ourselves to have. That’s not RaMell’s job — to give you hope — because that’s dishonest. And I think RaMell is one of those filmmakers who’s interested and buoyed and excited about truth. We live in a culture that says lying is okay, right? So, what’s dangerous is the truth. What’s exciting is the truth. And that’s what I think RaMell is driven by.

I don’t think that people necessarily want hope. What they want is absolution. “I don’t have to be responsible for what happened to those children.” People should not see something like “Nickel Boys” and feel that way — because how he shoots it, he doesn’t allow you to, and I think that’s very, very hard for people.

The hope is us. Because now we know what happened to those children, and we can say, “I want to know more.” What happened to those families? Are they getting justice? Where else is that happening around the country? Because it didn’t just happen at the Dozier school. it still happening? I don’t want any child I know to ever go through that, How does that exhibit itself or present itself in other facets of our society, where children are treated in such a way and people get away with it? We are the hope.
It's worth starting this review by saying I have read the Colson Whitehead novel Nickel Boys is based on, and very recently. In fact, it was the rapturous festival reactions to the film, many of which emphasized it as an achievement of adaptation, that inspired me to seek out the book ahead of time. I'm glad I did – it's a wonderful book. Having read it, however, did shape my response to this movie.

PG-13
Drama
Set in Jim Crow-era Florida, two Black teens, Elwood Curtis and Turner, endure the brutal conditions of Nickel Academy, a reformatory for boys. While Turner teaches survival through cynicism, Elwood clings to his belief in justice, despite the horrors around them. Their friendship offers a glimmer of hope amidst a backdrop of systemic racism and violence.

Director
RaMell Ross
Writers
RaMell Ross , Joslyn Barnes , Colson Whitehead
Cast
Ethan Herisse , Brandon Wilson , Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor , Hamish Linklater , Fred Hechinger , Daveed Diggs , Luke Tennie , Sunny Mabrey , Gralen Bryant Banks , Sara Osi Scott , Rachel Whitman Groves , Escalante Lundy , LeBaron Foster Thornton , Ethan Cole Sharp , Najah Bradley , Mike Harkins , Jimmie Fails
Runtime
140 Minutes
Expand
RaMell Ross, who directed and co-wrote with Joslyn Barnes, has created an adaptation in intelligent conversation with its source. Without giving too much of either work away, it's easy to see how the film's defining stylistic choice – shooting as if from a character's point of view – fits this material. Nickel Boys is thoughtful and gave me a lot to think about. But I have reservations, and though

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