Fresh off its world premiere at Telluride yesterday, here’s the first trailer for RaMell Ross‘ “Nickel Boys.” And given the film’s reception at the Colorado-based festival, expect Ross’ film to get some major attention during the upcoming awards season (and not just because Ross’ 2018 doc “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” was also a critical darling).
READ MORE: NYFF 2024: RaMell Ross’ Drama ‘Nickel Boys’ Selected As Opening Night Film
Based on Colson Whitehead‘s 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Nickel Boys” chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenager as they navigate a reform school together in 1960s Florida.
Here’s an official synopsis for the film, courtesy of Orion and Amazon MGM Studios:
Elwood Curtis’s 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. 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 appear 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.
“Nickel Boys” stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
Along with directing, Ross adapts Whitehead’s novel for the big screen with Joslyn Barnes. Producers include Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine, and Barnes. Brad Pitt leads executive producers with Gabby Shepard, Emily Wolfe, Kenneth Yu, and Chadwick Prichard. Alex Somers & Scott Alario provide music for the film.
After Telluride, “Nickel Boys” continues on the Fall festival circuit with screenings at NYFF and BFI London Film Festival. After that, it hits select theaters on October 25. Will word of mouth force Amazon MGM to give it a wider release by year’s end? Only time will tell (but The Playlist’s mixed review of the film suggests not).
Watch the first trailer for “Nickel Boys” below.