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As award season comes to an end, audiences all over become aware of films that may have slipped by previously. One 2024 film that has gained recognition this season is a striking book-to-movie adaptation. RaMell Ross has taken the beloved 2019 novel The Nickel Boys, written by Colson Whitehead, and reimagined it.
Nickel Boys (2024)1‘s refreshing take on perspective immerses viewers in the harsh reality of 1960s America, providing an intimate look into the world of reform school students. Both versions of the story follow two young Black teens who are placed in a Florida reform school, hoping to get out alive. The audience faces the horror many lived in for hundreds of years.
The Importance Of Nickel Boys
Elwood, a hopeful seventeen-year-old (twelve in the novel), and Turner, a returning student, befriend each other in Nickel Academy, hoping to find some joy in a circle of abuse. The film follows Elwood as he grows up, to his and Turner’s time in the reform school, and then after. What we see from their lives is not uncommon to what actually happened to children in those schools.
The story is based on events from the Dozier School in Florida, which was in operation for one hundred and eleven years. In a 2018 article2, NPR helped reveal the terrible events that went down for over a century. Since then, a group of those brought to the school, The White House Boys, have come forward about the treatment they and others had endured while at the school.
The film follows a similar story, but the approach makes it stand out. Director RaMell Ross and Cinematographer Jomo Fray made a daring choice when choosing the style of the film, POV.
POV stands for Point of View, a filming style that allows the viewers to see a scene unravel from the eyes of a character. While most films use this sparingly, if at all, Nickel Boys decided to take it one step further and shoot the entirety of the film in POV’s. Switching from Elwood’s perspective to Turner’s perspective, audiences are able to see exactly as the reform students did.
How Nickel Boys Is Impacting Audiences
POV is an incredibly intimate way to film. With just one decision, viewers must experience a situation as if they are living through it. That may seem cool for other films, but for Nickel Boys many people would prefer to sit on the sidelines.
The film begins with a young, innocent boy, who is being raised by his loving grandmother, just trying to find hope in the world. Elwood dreams of getting an education. Yet, from just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he has been sentenced to one of the worst places a young Black boy can be.
Eventually, the film switches to Turner’s point of view, showing moments the audience would have missed as Elwood. The two boys rely heavily on each other. There’s no questioning their strong bond. They have been through the worst together, so naturally, they choose to help each other out.
Instead of taking the backseat, Ross and Fray chose to place their audience directly into the shoes of the story’s protagonists. We see the beauty of their world as well as the terrible mistreatment. Every moment is from their eyes.
The film is incredibly beautiful. The creative decision to use POV makes all of the shots feel remarkably fresh, adding an element that others miss. Every shot feels ten times more personal. With themes as heavy as systemic racism, violence, and hope, having the film feel more personal only makes it more powerful.
Nickel Boys goes the extra mile to depict life in reform schools. Some scenes make the audience’s heartbeat align with the characters. And, just like them, there is no knowing what is going to happen next. All you can hope for is freedom.
The Power Of POV
Returning to the beginning, POV (point-of-view, specifically a first-person shot) allows viewers to step away from the third-person perspective — or a known person’s perspective — and fully immerse themselves in the life of a particular character. Films are typically done in third person, which creates a limited viewing experience, as the camera is often a fly on the wall rather than being in on the action.
A film can feel far more intense and suspenseful when shot in first person. The audience doesn’t get to know anything before a character does. There is a history of POV shots in cinema, some that are rather famous. Two examples are the “Becoming Spider-Man3” scene from The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)4, directed by Marc Webb, and the opening scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window5. However, these shots are meant to bring thrill and curiosity into the theater, rather than suspense.
Though the concept of a POV shot is far from new—it was first recorded in Abel Gance’s Napoleon (1927)6 — it captivates audiences a century later. Even filming an entire movie in POV dates back to 1947. Lady In The Lake7, directed by Robert Montgomery, used a technique to create a spectacle — the first film where the camera acted.
Decisions Behind The Film
Like Lady In The Lake, Nickel Boys created a unique experience for its audience. While first-person perspective films are coming out more often, it is hard to find one that has been this impactful.
The story is already deeply emotional, but to witness everything from the teen’s eyes makes everything even more shocking. The kids that are brought to this school are young, still discovering things about the world. Being put into their perspective means as they learn, we learn.
There are many ways to capture POV, from helmets to chest plates, which are some of the ways Ross was able to create his vision. The crew worked on their techniques for a month, working on the choreography of the camera. However, they found that the messier it was, the better it looked.
“If you are late to something and then you find it… then it just fundamentally feels more like human vision.”
Ross, raMell. Nickel Boys. 2024.
This quote comes from an article published by The Verge: “First Person Shooter”8. If the audience is placed inside the mind of someone unaware of what is happening, it makes sense for the camera to reflect that perspective.
In the same article, it is noted that when Ross was given an advanced copy of The Nickel Boys, as he was approached about making the film when the novel had yet to be released, he immediately read the book and knew the film would have to be in first-person.
From Third-Person To First-Person Perspective
The novel9, published in 2019 and winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is written in the third person. This means that the novel is told from an outsider’s perspective. From that perspective, the audience doesn’t get to know exactly what the protagonists are feeling, thinking, or seeing. All they know is what is happening outwardly.
Ross’s decision to retell the story was already an emotionally taxing task, but adopting a new perspective — one that makes the story even more personal — further elevates the connection.
When Ross went in to pitch the idea of first-person perspective, he was shocked when no one questioned his decision. It seemed that everyone a part of the team just thought it made the most sense.
Nickel Boys Among Other POV Films
A scene that stands out in Nickel Boys is the White House scene. The scene portrays a very sensitive topic that comes with reform schools, which is the beatings the students endured. From Elwood’s perspective, audiences see the inside of the White House for the first time.
As he waits patiently to face what’s behind the doors, there is audio from the boys who went in before him. He watches the others shake nervously. Elwood keeps his head down, and once it’s his turn to enter, the audience discovers the evil sits behind it at the same time he does.
This scene reflects the rest of the film well. Reform schools were a waiting game for those there. Waiting to age out; waiting to get in trouble; waiting for safety. Even though the film is intense, there isn’t all that much action. Ross showed what was most realistic, which was the waiting.
One film that features a first-person perspective is Hardcore Henry (2015)10, directed by Ilya Naishuller. This action/sci-fi movie uses POV to bring the audience into the action, feeling more like a video game. Immersing the audience in this way allows them to feel like they are fighting crime in the body of a cyborg rather than experiencing life in the Jim Crow South.
Another film that follows the same perspective is the new horror film Presence (2024)11, by Steven Soderbergh. This film interestingly approaches the style, as the camera takes on a character unfamiliar and unseen to the family the story follows. This film aligns closer with the emotional impact of Nickel Boys but from a different genre. Both bring up feelings of uneasiness or fear, but the approaches are completely their own.
More first-person films have been making their rounds with audiences and critics, but it seems Nickel Boys stands alone when bringing in the emotional and historical impact a film can have on its viewers. Rather than simulating a video game, Nickel Boys simply uses POV more inherently. Like Ross said, the film makes sense with a first-person perspective.
The perspective certainly feels odd for the first few minutes, but with how stagnant some scenes are, like the beginning showing what Elwood saw growing up, there is a completely different vibe than what you would get with work like Hardcore Henry. No jumping off of buildings and fighting attackers like you would in a video game. Just two teenage boys trying to manage in a reform school.
Other movies that have taken on the creative decision of the POV are Russian Ark (2002)12, by Alexander Sokurov, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)13, by Julian Schnabel, and Maniac (2012)14, by Franck Khalfoun. It is clear to say that the use of POV is one that can make a film incredibly captivating.
How Nickel Boys Can Change The Approach To POV
Though filming entirely in first-person is not unheard of, many are calling Nickel Boys the most ambitious film of the year. The film takes on the challenge of following a specific perspective for two hours and twenty minutes while also throwing audiences headfirst into the horrors that came with 1960s America.
It is never easy to tell stories that bring up sensitive topics, like systemic racism, but it is important. The film is visually stunning and the characters are complex. Ross’s decision to work in first-person allowed those two components to mingle, creating a film that made you sit with how beautiful yet frightening the world can be.
The audience builds relationships with Elwood, Turner, and those they encounter. It is nearly impossible to leave the story without feeling attached to their lives — and that feeling is on purpose. While the reform schools have since been closed, that doesn’t mean the world is free from the aftermath.
RaMell Ross has adapted an award-winning novel into an award-winning film. Nickel Boys speaks on the topics people need to pay attention to, even in the modern world. By placing the audience into the shoes of those dealing with a reform school, audiences are forced to be aware of the impact they had. Refreshing and intimate, Nickel Boys is not a film to be forgotten.
Footnotes
- Ross, RaMell. Nickel Boys. 2024. ↩︎
- Allen, G. (2012, October 15). Florida’s Dozier School for Boys: A true horror story. NPR. ↩︎
- TopMovieClips. (2025). Becoming Spider-Man Scene – The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (2012, July 3). The amazing spider-man. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (1954, September 1). Rear window. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (1929, February 17). Napoleon. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (1947, January 19). Lady in the Lake. IMDb. ↩︎
- Nguyen, K. (2024, December 14). First-person shooter. The Verge. ↩︎
- Whitehead, C. (n.d.). The nickel boys (winner 2020 Pulitzer prize for fiction) by Colson Whitehead: 9780345804341: Penguinrandomhouse.com: Books. PenguinRandomhouse.com. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (2016, April 8). Hardcore henry. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (2025, January 24). Presence. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (2003, April 19). Russian ark. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (2008, February 1). The Diving Bell and the butterfly. IMDb. ↩︎
- IMDb.com. (2013, January 2). Maniac. IMDb. ↩︎