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Synopsis
Elwood Curtis’ college dreams are dashed along a two-lane Florida highway. Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he is condemned to the underworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory deep in the Jim Crow South. He meets another ward, Turner, who has seen it all. The two black teenagers form an alliance: Turner offers fundamental survival advice, Elwood clings to his optimistic worldview. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, Elwood and Turner’s existence seems a world away from the polished oratory of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood struggles to retain his humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner.