4.4 - Nickel Boys: Brutally Real, Beautifully Shot and Impossible to Forget

So… we may have spent the first 9 minutes talking about absolutely everything except this week’s film. Consider it the chatty intro you didn’t know you needed.
Eventually, we make our way to Nickel Boys (2024), RaMell Ross’s haunting and visually groundbreaking adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, inspired by the devastating true history of Florida’s Dozier School for Boys.

Through Elwood and Turner, we’re pulled into a world where a place meant to educate and protect instead becomes a site of unimaginable cruelty. Ross’s intimate, unconventional cinematography makes this film feel less like something you’re watching and more like something you’re experiencing. This one stayed with us long after the credits, and we’re diving into exactly why. 

And then there’s the wine.
This week’s pairing is Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles in California.  A wine named for liberty… paired with a film about a “school” where freedom was anything but guaranteed. The contrast felt too perfect to ignore. Bold, dark-fruited and structured, this Cabernet brought its own weight to the conversation, but it’s the meaning behind the bottle that really got us. 

Pour yourself a glass and tune in now!