A+Z Movie Review Podcast · Alex Long and Zach Cavanagh

Episode 43 - Nickel Boys - 2025 Best Picture Nominee

·52 min·3 clips

Nickel Boys is an independent indie film that the hosts say they would not have watched without the Best Picture nomination.

1. A Plus Z Movie Review Podcast closes its 10 Best Picture nominees run with Nickel Boys. 2. Alex and Zach host the show as the A and Z, and their completion of the full slate matters to the episode. 3. The episode asks whether Nickel Boys is a worthy Best Picture nominee and whether its style helps the story. 4. The hosts describe Nickel Boys as an adapted screenplay from The Nickel Boys, set around the real Dozier School for Boys in 1960s Florida. 5. They say the school was a Florida reform school known for abusive treatment, and they connect the film to that real history. 6. The conversation notes that white students get better clothes, better food, better housing, and football access. 7. They also say Black students and non-white students receive worse accommodations and more intense punishments. 8. The hosts explain that the movie uses first-person point of view throughout, with the point-of-view character changing at times. 9. They mention flash-forward moments, Martin Luther King imagery, space travel images, and internet forensic-photo sequences. 10. Zach says the early conversations felt like a video game cut scene, especially the talk with Elwood’s grandmother. 11. Alex praises the cinematography and says the camera setup is unlike anything he has seen in a feature film. 12. Alex cites the back-of-head future scenes as a clue that the perspective choice has a story purpose. 13. The hosts discuss how the camera makes the viewer feel like the subject of the abuse rather than an outside observer. 14. Zach points to a room where boys are whipped and says the film implies violence with blood splatters instead of showing the punishment directly. 15. They discuss Ramell Ross as the director and call this his first narrative feature. 16. They say the two lead performances from Ethan Harris and Brandon Wilson work well with the difficult one-shot choreography. 17. The episode has a conversational review format with detailed back-and-forth, corrections, and side comments. 18. The tone stays analytical but personal, with the hosts disagreeing about style while agreeing on the film’s seriousness. 19. People who like Oscar coverage and formal film style debates would likely enjoy this episode. 20. People who want fast verdicts or dislike heavy historical drama might skip it.

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