Based on the novel ‘The Nickel Boys’ by Colson Whitehead, the setting of Nickel Boys remains eerily similar to the one in the Oscar nominated documentary Sugarcane. And hence, the parallel themes of both the films cannot be discounted. Both films have the center setting of a reforming school that is a haven for crimes and atrocities conducted on members of the marginalized communities. In Sugarcane, if the affected where the children from the indigenous tribes, in Nickel Boys, the segregation and trauma are enforced based on skin colour and racism. In fact, the event that leads Elwood to the reform school itself was a commentary on the amount of racism in the neighbourhood. In the sequence leading up to the event, you see Elwood hitchhiking to the campus, only to accidently take a lift from a man with a stolen car. And so while being caught, there is no inquiry about his background. His skin colour is enough to paint him with a coat of theft.

The differentiation based on treatment at the reform school is prevalent early on. In a scene, you see the Nickel Academy’s White administrator Spencer (Hamish Linklater) emphasize on how only ‘Aces’ (the top most category of student-convicts) would be refrained from punishment. This, while the reality spells otherwise. In fact, the odd segregation of students is also aligned to its setting – the white students enjoy the luxuries of the arena, getting to live in spacious mansions (that oddly is also the first glimpse of Elwood until he observes only Whites getting off at that juncture), while the Blacks are reduced to dingy little rooms with more stricter rules. A sub-commentary extended to a Mexican character wherein the authorities being confused of his origin placed him with the Whites before sending him with the Blacks. The segregation is also in terms of the sports that the children participate in – the Whites are shown to play football while the Blacks are reduced to being players in the ring, conveniently executed (read : beaten to death) if they went against the rules, and later discreetly buried and marked as absconding for the records. It was stifling to witness implied acts of sexuality imposed on children, all of which starts to bother Elwood.

One of the central themes of Nickel Boys also remains that of empathy and friendship – both of which are explored with the introduction of Turner (Brandon Wilson), a fellow student who extends a hand of friendship to Elwood. In many ways, Turner is a diabolically opposite personality to Elwood. While the latter is an idealist, quick to observe the atrocities around him and wanting to be the voice of his people, Turner is the more reserved kind, almost believing in being a silent spectator to the atrocities and considering it his fate. Hence when the POV changes with the first person view from Elwood (Ethan Herisse) to Turner, it also signifies their inter-changeable personalities and their soon to be ideologies. This is also extended in a beautiful scene involving Elwood’s Nanna who coincidently bumps into Turner for the first time, while aspiring to connect with Elwood. In the scene, you see her hugging Turner as if he is her own grandson, only to remark that he has lost the art of hugging. That one scene is literally heartbreaking and had me in tears – it symbolized the accumulated layers of trauma imposed on Turner without him ever uttering a word.

There is a consistent reference to the 1958 English film The Defiant One starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier(incidently a part of the Civil Rights Movement), a drama that did speak about equalities and finding a middle-ground between the Whites and the Blacks. While that remained an idealist point of view with an inherent ‘White’ gaze, the two characters of the film were replaced by Elwood and Turner here. This was particularly in sync with its inherent theme wherein the reality of Equality was a distant dream in the wake of White Supremacy that ruled the roosts. Hence, Turner always remained protected about Elwood, often accompanying him in beautiful orange orchards to fulfill convict duties with him. The writing does interject the narrative with many points from American History that included the Vietnam War and the innumerous Space Missions. But one thing worth mentioning was the slanted gaze of highlighting the achievements of the Whites while only the civil rights movement filled news headlines in favour of the Black. And that remained the politics of the land too.

The non-linear narrative did further paint a frightening picture, intercutting the atrocities of a character in school to portions involving a claustrophobic train compartment. In a future timeline, the lens of the camera no longer remains in first person, in fact the angle shifts to the backend part of a character’s head who identifies himself as Elwood. You see him being way past previous life but still in sync with the traumas of it. Even a chance encounter with a fellow student, leaves him in a disturbed territory when he learns about unidentified graves in his school compound. The timelines are further interjected to the past that connects the dots, only to result in a painfully strifling finale that left me numb and had me thinking about the event for hours. It was that hollow feeling that truly elevates the drama to a moving cinematic journey that is worth a million nightmares. And I must admit, I am still in that daze while recalling it. The screenplay is wonderfully well penned and makes for a solid impact.