RaMell Ross directed Nickel Boys, written by Ross and Joslyn Barnes. Based on the book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, the story follows Elwood Curtis, played by Ethan Herisse, whose 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, played by Brandon Wilson. 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 appears 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.