2024 was the year that I got reacquainted with the theater-going experience again after almost 5 years. I went to see ‘The Photograph’ back in February 2020 with a coworker and would not step foot again in a theater until April 2023 when I saw ‘John Wick 4.’ It would not be until last year, however, that I would make repeated trips to the darkened room and see movies as they were meant to be made.

With that said, I really enjoyed all the films I saw this year. Between ‘Didi,’ ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness,’ ‘A Real Pain,’ and even ‘Deadpool and Wolverine,’ I enjoyed every experience. However one film stood above them all to win my award for movie of the year. That film was ‘Nickel Boys.’

On the surface, ‘Nickel Boys’ is about a young man who, the summer he is supposed to head to college, gets caught up in the judicial system and instead spends years in a juvenile detention facility. It’s worth noting that this is 1960s Flordia, and segregation is not only encouraged but required. So, as a young black man caught up in the system, we see the main character, Elwood, and his friend Turner deal with levels of isolation and punishment that would break most men — let alone boys.

What’s unique about this film is that much of it is shot from a first-person perspective. It’s a perspective that I cannot recall seeing used extensively in a film before. At first, it was somewhat jarring to get used to. But then, it made sense. You, the viewer, are literally “inhabiting” the body of these characters and seeing the world literally through their eyes. It was very moving and I recommend anyone reading this to see it.