39/17
Narrative
Elwood Curtis’s college dreams are shattered on a two-lane Florida highway. After bearing the brunt of an innocent mistake, he is sentenced to the afterlife of Nickel Academy, a brutal reform school deeply rooted in the Jim Crow South. He meets another inmate, Turner, who has seen it all. The two black teenagers form an alliance: Turner offers basic survival advice, Elwood clings to his optimistic worldview. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, Elwood and Turner’s lives seem a world away from the polished speeches of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood struggles to maintain his humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner.