This is the most difficult screenplay so far for me to give an in-depth analysis of. I’m going to come right out and say this script, in particular, and the movie, in general, perplexed me. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it or that I didn’t find it compelling or powerful. Just the opposite is true, in fact. But the way director RaMell Ross handled shooting the movie, and the non-traditional way in which the story, as well as the powerful message and narrative, made watching this movie something that took considerable effort. This is a film and a screenplay that challenges people of a certain race to examine the state of our country, how we got to where we are, and how things went so very wrong.
Like many films this year, Nickel Boys has a pessimistic point of view.
Thematically, this might be the strongest script of the year. This script starts off in an emotional way. It poses the question, are people born bad because of the color of their skin they’re born with, or has that attitude been instilled at an institutional level? That was the point that stuck with me almost from the beginning. We see as we see Elwood (Ethan Herisse), the script’s protagonist, go on his journey through the script that the racism of the South, and the country in general, was not going to let him get ahead. The script also proposes that slavery never really went away. It just arrived in a new form called incarceration. Elwood is essentially enslaved and dehumanized over the course of the script, and his attempts to use the power of his intellect and humanity always end badly.
One of the challenges with this screenplay is that it’s a bit scattered. There is a traditional Hero’s Journey in it, but the stages are mixed and kind of unclear, especially in the second half of the film. However, there is a clear Ordinary World, there is a clear Special World, and there is a clear Return. Ross also wrote the screenplay with co-screenwriter Joslyn Barnes, and it’s based on the book of the same title by Colson Whitehead. While the screenwriting is non-traditional, it is no less effective in crafting a powerful narrative and dramatic story.
The Ordinary World of the film shows Elwood as a kind, smart, talented African American teenager growing up in the segregated South of the 1960s. He gets an opportunity to go to art school and accepts a ride while walking there. Unbeknownst to him, the guy who picked him up stole the car he’s driving and soon gets pulled over. Elwood is basically guilty by association.
Elwood Crosses the First Threshold when he is sent to Nickel Academy, a reform school near Tallahassee. We know right away things will be challenging when the two white boys with him are dropped off at a nice-looking white mansion and he’s taken to a back house. The Tests, Allies, and Enemies portion of the journey shows him meeting people he can and can’t trust, including Turner (Brandon Wilson), who serves the story as an archetypal shapeshifter. We’re never entirely sure if we can trust him or not, though he ultimately ends the script as a true ally for Elwood. Enemies like Spencer and Blakely, oppressive and abusive masters of the school, are clear right away, and Blakely is there for Elwood to fail an early test that leads to him experiencing the Supreme Ordeal of being whipped by Spencer.
This is the point of the script where the Hero’s Journey becomes a little loose. It had been tight to that point, but it slackened up here. There is a Reward, but it’s spread over the next half hour of the story as Elwood discovers the corruption of Nickel Academy goes beyond the abuse, and he has the idea to document it to ultimately get the school closed down. Elwood was inspired by Martin Luther King’s belief in non-violent protest and knew that he could bring Nickel down from the inside without firing a shot or throwing a punch.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!
The third act begins with the Road Back when the admins discover what Elwood wants to do and put him in the hot box with the intent to kill him and bury him in the back with so many other unmarked graves that have been dug over the years. Turner discovers this plan and breaks Elwood out. They escape the academy on bikes, but Harper, one of the employees, catches up with them and shoots Elwood, killing him in a field. The Resurrection is that Turner gets away and takes Elwood’s name, escaping to New York City. The Return with the Elixir is the discovery of the unmarked graves some 20 years later.
Nickel Boys is a film that should make white people feel uncomfortable. Indeed, I didn’t feel like I was enjoying the film while I was watching it. However, shortly after it ended, it didn’t take a lot of reflection to realize I had just watched a powerful film that did exactly what it was supposed to do. Do I think this is the Best-Adapted Screenplay of the year? I do not. However, it is definitely worthy of its nomination, and it is a film that shows how unchecked power can become abusive, especially when groups of people are dehumanized.
That, in and of itself, is a powerful lesson for today’s world.