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Line of Events
Elwood Curtis’ college dream is shattered on a two-lane highway in Florida. He bears the brunt of an innocent misdemeanor and is sentenced to the underworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reform school in the Jim Crow Deep South. He meets another guard, the astute Turner. The two black teenagers form an alliance: Turner provides basic survival tips, Elwood clings to his optimistic outlook on the world. Against the backdrop of the growing Civil Rights Movement, Elwood and Turner’s existences seem worlds apart from the polished oratory of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood struggles to maintain his humanity and awaken a new vision in Turner.