RaMell Ross’ *Nickel Boys* has already received considerable praise, achieving Best Picture nominations from the [Golden Globes](https://mashable.com/article/golden-globes-nominations-nominees-2025) and the [Critics Choice Awards](https://mashable.com/article/critics-choice-nominations-2025). The film also made it onto [Mashable’s list of the best movies of 2024](https://mashable.com/article/best-movies-2024). A newly unveiled trailer now provides a more comprehensive insight into this acclaimed film.

**SEE ALSO:** [The 25 best movies of 2024, and where to watch them](https://mashable.com/article/best-movies-2024)

Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, *Nickel Boys* plunges audiences into the grim realities of Jim Crow-era Florida through its extensive use of first-person POV shots. The narrative focuses on 16-year-old Elwood Curtis (portrayed by Ethan Herisse), who is wrongly sent to the Nickel Academy, a “reform” institution inspired by the real-life [Dozier School for Boys in Florida](https://www.npr.org/2012/10/15/162941770/floridas-dozier-school-for-boys-a-true-horror-story). Within Nickel Academy, Elwood and his peers suffer from horrific mistreatment by the staff. Amidst the cruelty, Elwood develops a friendship with Turner (Brandon Wilson), another student whose viewpoint the film periodically embraces.

In his [review for Mashable](https://mashable.com/article/nickel-boys-review), Siddhant Adlakha lauds the film, stating, “The camera crafts a compelling sense of self and identity through the kind of thoughtful, dynamic artistry that the American mainstream rarely showcases, making its stand against violence and racial oppression strikingly apparent through its visual narrative. The film is one of a kind, yet it feels deeply familiar.”

*Nickel Boys* is currently screening in select theaters.