'Nickel Boys' (2024)
The main reason I chose to watch it is that it has been nominated for Best Picture at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards. It has also been selected for the Best Adapted Screenplay category. It also represented the Golden Globe Film Festival under the Best Motion Picture - Drama category. The most prominent feature of the film is the unique imagery. Of course, for me, it was a bit annoying to adapt to that pattern. I was looking forward to the series of gruesome events that were revealed because of the tragic story.
The basis is a novel. The novel is based on a school. This school is a probationary school. But it is a hellish place. The book is written as a fiction based on the serious torture, sexual abuse and murder committed by the staff of the real school called Dozier School for Boys. Then there is the issue of racism in the United States in the 60s. Then even the children who are put in foster care are classified as white and black. All the abuse, torture, and murders happen to the black side. It is not only the white people who are in charge of the place. Black people are also involved in these crimes.
Although this is extremely pathetic, it contains a structure that does not show all the brutal torture on the screen. If the suffering of these people, who are even used for slavery, is true, it should be shown with violence like 12 Years a Slave (2013). But the creator follows a different approach. He attaches a first-person point-of-view style to it. The POV of the main character couple switches alternately. Although this is something special, I personally do not like it. But the most interesting thing is that the horror is highlighted without showing violence. It can be recommended as a must-see film of the year.
