Plot

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, "Nickel Boys" chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African-American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

"Nickel Boys" is based on the historic reform school in Florida, "The Dozier School for Boys", which was notorious for abusive treatment of students. It's the story of Elwood Curtis, a young African-American boy who is sent to the Nickel Academy after he is falsely accused of a crime during the 1960s. While there, he meets a boy named Turner, and the two form a close friendship as they try to survive the horrors of the school and its corrupt administrators.—Pete

Elwood Curtis, a young African-American student in 1962 Jim Crow-era Tallahassee, Florida, seems destined for success in the classroom. His black teacher rejects the biased perspective of Southern textbooks and encourages him to think independently.

Elwood is brought up by his devoted grandmother, who fears that if he gets involved in the expanding Civil Rights Movement, white society will turn against him. Elwood gets accepted into an HBCU's tuition-free accelerated study program one day, but a man in a stolen car picks him up as he hitches to campus. Elwood is found guilty of being the man's accomplice after the police apprehend him. Elwood is sent to a reform school called the Nickel Academy because he is underage.

Black students are housed in dilapidated facilities and receive little educational effort at Nickel, while white students enjoy comfortable accommodations and individualized attention from staff. The school makes money by using the black students as convict labor, so even though they are told they can be released for good behavior, they are actually not allowed to leave until they turn eighteen. Furthermore, it is suggested that some students experience sexual abuse.

Elwood develops a bond with another reserved student, Turner. Turner, on the other hand, is cynical, expects only abuse from society, and tells Elwood to keep his head down, whereas Elwood is motivated by the democratic and nonviolent principles of the Civil Rights Movement. The administrators brutally beat both students after Elwood is harassed and assaulted by another student. Elwood's grandmother saves money and hires a lawyer to challenge his conviction, but the lawyer embezzles her money, leaving Elwood in ruins. A black student who either forgot to take a dive or refused to does so is quietly put to death by a white school administrator who wagers on Nickel's yearly black-white boxing match.

The adult Elwood in the flash forwards operates his own moving company and resides in New York City. He does not seem to communicate with Turner. The news that numerous unmarked graves have been found at the former Nickel campus shakes him to his core. The majority of the deceased students were Black, according to forensic evidence.

Frustrated by his mistreatment, Elwood writes an expose in the 1960s and persuades Turner, who is hesitant, to give it to a government inspector. But nothing occurs, and Elwood is tortured in the school sweat box by the administrators in retaliation. Turner finds out that Elwood will be killed by the school. Together, Turner and Elwood flee the school to stop this. But they are soon apprehended since they do not have a car. After his ordeal in the sweat box, Elwood is still too tired to keep up with Turner as he flees into the woods. They shoot him and kill him.

Turner safely arrived in Tallahassee, where he informed his grandmother of Elwood's passing, according to a montage. After that, he relocated to the North and adopted Elwood's name. He gets married, establishes a secure life, and makes an effort to uphold some of Elwood's principles in order to honor his legacy. Turner makes the decision to testify about his experiences when the government starts looking into the school.