Nickel Boys

Name: Nickel Boys
Genre: Drama
Released: December 13, 2024
Duration: 140 min
Rating: 91

2024

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Universal acclaim based on 49 Critic Reviews

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Nickel Boys

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Movie Details & Credits

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: December 13, 2024 | PG-13

Summary: 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 dispensingElwood 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, Elwood and Turner’s existence appear worlds away from Rev. Martin Luther King’s burnished oratory. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood strives to hold onto his humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead.… Expand

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 140 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Lindsey Bahr

Dec 12, 2024

The threads do come together, but it requires a bit of patience and giving yourself over to the film, which is both formally and emotionally eye-opening. Adapting great literature can sometimes send filmmakers running towards the conventional; Thank goodness Ross charted his own path instead. Read full review

100

Ty Burr

Jan 2, 2025

It is one of the most visually and sonically gorgeous movies of the year, and it is also a tragedy that left me weeping for two men, this country and the world. Read full review

100

Moira Macdonald

Jan 14, 2025

Nickel Boys is a life, made up of pieces; some of them lovely, some devastating. It’s a mesmerizing, uniquely told story — of memory, of injustice, of friendship, of survival. Read full review

Amy Nicholson

Dec 20, 2024

As good as the movie is with its visuals, it’s just as skillful with sound. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jan 19, 2025

Nickel Boys is American history, Southern history and Florida history uncovered and exposed, and a cautionary lesson to a culture backsliding into the comfort of more and more lies and delusions, all served up in one of the most artful films of 2024. Read full review

Tomris Laffly

Sep 1, 2024

Ross’ formal dedication sometimes stands in the way of story and emotion, prioritizing visuals over earned moments of expressive, swelling feelings. And so this critic did wonder if Nickel Boys should have dialed up its narrative ambitions from time to time, stepping just a bit away from its creative non-fiction temperaments. Read full review

Kyle Smith

Dec 12, 2024

Repetitive, meandering and dull, Mr. Ross’s film keeps steering attention to its director at the expense of narrative by relying on two tics that quickly wear out their welcome. Read full review

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