Sometimes, good intentions just aren’t enough.

“Nickel Boys” is based on the 2019 novel of the same name and follows two young men at a 1960s reform school who must overcome the abuses and segregation of the staff. Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor star, while RaMell Ross makes his narrative directorial debut.

There are plenty of examples of films that try and implement a new technology or technique, and it just doesn’t end up working. Many of these films are directed by Robert Zemeckis or Ang Lee, but it’s not always limited to the $50 to 100 million studio project. RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys” chooses to present the film from the POV of its characters, which, while interesting in idea, ends up numbing much of the possible impact of its dramatic story.

In 2016 there was a little-seen action film called “Hardcore Henry,” which was shot from the first-person perspective of its protagonist. Many people praised the idea, but it quickly wore out its welcome (like watching someone else play a video game). “Nickel Boys” is no action film, but we still experience the events of the story from the point of view of our leads, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson). By having the actors have to perform to a camera and not each other, much of the drama and nuances of their performances get tossed to the wayside, and often it does feel like we in the audience are watching a video game cutscene. There are awkward gaps in between dialogue, unnatural interactions with other characters, and, at its core, simply an underlying uncanny feel to it all.

For what it’s worth, the performers do try their best to overcome the stilted screenplay and limited acting space. Fred Hechinger (who is having quite the breakout year, between “Thelma,” “Gladiator II,” and the upcoming “Kraven the Hunter”) has a few nice scenes as the “well-meaning” school employee who seems friendly to the kids, but you can tell he harbors darker feelings underneath. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor also has a couple of sweet and earnest moments as Elwood’s grandmother, but she is unfortunately talking directly at the camera for most of the time, so her performance inadvertently comes off as unnerving.

The camerawork and cinematography by Jomo Fray (when not distracted by the awkward POV gimmick) are pretty beautiful, and partnered with the score by Alex Somers and Scott Alario, there are some effective sequences that play out like a Jordan Peele horror film, with clear visual analogies showing how life in the 1960s for marginalized groups was barely different than slavery. There are plenty of one-takes and long shots that are undeniably impressive on a technical level, but again, the POV creates a distance between the story and its audience.

Had “Nickel Boys” been shorter (there are probably 90 minutes of true content stretched out over a very-felt 140), then maybe the POV approach would not have been such a hindrance. The story feels important, and the actors are giving their all, but at the end of the day, the film struggles to be informative, impactful, or entertaining (similar to last year’s “Origin”) and is far from the memorable piece of media the filmmakers were clearly striving to attain.

Critics Rating: 5/10