If everybody looks the other way, then everybody's in on it

Continuing my trip up Empire's top 20 films of 2025

#11 :  Nickel Boys

The 2019 book The Nickel Boys, from The Underground Railroad author Colson Whitehead, was already an acclaimed, accomplished, searing piece of storytelling: a fictionalised account of the real-life Dozier School in Florida which was exposed as an abusive and in some cases deadly institution for young African-American men. Filmmaker RaMell Ross — responsible for the hugely underrated 2018 documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening — somehow found a way to elevate the text even further, expanding on the interiority of the book by placing the camera inside the head of his two leads as they navigate the hellish Nickel Academy. The film is a technical and artistic feat, a genuinely innovative use of cinematography for character-based storytelling, but it is the tender, delicate way it approaches the harrowing story — and the humane performances, (sometimes off-screen) from the likes of Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor — that makes it a truly special film. One to be savoured.

I've heard this is good, but I must admit to being a little put off by the prospect of the first person view because I'm concerned it will be a bit gimmicky.

Hmmm. Tricky one.

It's very artistic with some beautiful shots, plenty of which aren't at all obvious, even within the context of the first person aspect. I agree with Empire that it is "genuinely innovative" and whilst it is a bit gimmicky, the film sticks with it and uses it in varied ways - which actually makes sense because your gaze often wanders or the scene which it falls upon varies (although I'm not sure that everyone has such a grasp of the art that can exist within the mundane or commonplace as RaMell Ross has). 

But, to fill a film which is 140 minutes long, you're going to need to offer up a bit more than beauty to keep my interest - so does it manage that? Well, there's a bit more on several fronts, but maybe not an awful lot more...

The film does have a story to tell but, at least for the first half, it's not exactly an historical epic. Some boys end up in an institution and it's really not an awful lot of fun - and, err, that's it. Things do pick up somewhat in the second half and it comes up with an interesting twist at the end which I'm completely unable to discuss other than saying it's well done - but 70 minutes is quite a long time to wait for some plot.

OK - well, what about the acting? For the most part, I think I'd go as far as describing it as "perfectly fine" - I think a lot of that is because the main roles call for the characters to keep their heads down and not stand out, but that doesn't make for star turns. Interestingly, the same is equally true for "the baddies", who I'm guessing are demonstrating the banality of evil, so they don't stand out either (and are often kept in the background). The one exception for me was Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor who plays Hattie, Elwood's grandmother who hits the right notes for me, trying to play by the rules against a stacked system.

The film has an unusual 4:3 aspect ratio - I don't see it adds anything, but equally it doesn't detract, except that several times I thought "I don't see in 4:3, so why have they used it?" (apparently the thinking was to cut down the field of vision to make it feel more personal). There's also some bits where it swaps to third person view which the internet actually explains to me in a way that makes sense - but I can assure you I would never have worked it out on my own

All in all, I'd say this is a "film-maker's film" - it's beautiful to look at and there's a lot to admire here and but not, for me, quite so much to enjoy. It does pick up in the second half though, so I think it just about sneaks in as a recommendation - but if it had been 30 minutes shorter, I think things would have been greatly improved. If you fancy it, then it's available to stream on MUBI or to rent in all the usual locations, just don't give on it before it gets to the interesting bits.

#12 - Not a bundle of laughs