12/23
Elwood Curtis’s college dreams are shattered on a two-lane Florida highway. After suffering the brunt of an innocent misstep, he is sentenced to the underworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reform school deep in the American South. There he meets another student, Turner, who has seen it all. The two black teenagers form an alliance: Turner offers essential survival advice, and Elwood clings to his optimistic view of the world. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, Elwood and Turner’s existence seems a far cry from the polished oratory of the Reverend Martin Luther King. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood struggles to maintain his humanity, awakening a new vision in Turner.