Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Brings an Abstract Nickel Boys Down to Earth

People who care about movies always say they want filmmakers to take chances, to show them something they’ve never seen before, or at least open their eyes to a new way of seeing. The latter is exactly what RaMell Ross does with his second feature Nickel Boys. Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s affecting, elegantly written novel about two young men struggling to stay afloat at a brutal reform school, Ross’ movie may not open a door to a whole new kind of filmmaking—Terrence Malick, for one, has experimented...