Nickel Boys' Storytelling: Radical in Movies, Common in Games

Nickel Boys has emerged as a significant contender in this year's movie awards season. Adapted from Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, it weaves a tale of an abusive reform school in Florida. The story toggles between the 1960s and 2010s, following two young Black men's incarceration and the subsequent law enforcement investigation.

Uniting Cinema and Gaming in a Unique Narrative

First-Person Cinema vs. Gaming

Nickel Boys stands out with its almost exclusive use of first-person point-of-view shots. While not the first to attempt this style, it is rare in sustained film narratives. Comparisons can be drawn to Robert Montgomery's 1947 film noir Lady in the Lake and various other examples in different mediums. But in gaming, this perspective has been commonplace since the early days.

Video game developers have been placing virtual cameras in 3D spaces since 1992 with Wolfenstein 3D. Even before that, they faked it in role-playing games. Players have always wanted to see through their characters' eyes. However, the purpose in Nickel Boys is not about immersion in action but generating empathy and challenging identity notions.

There are many examples in gaming where first-person is combined with different elements to create unique psychological realities. Games like The Chinese Room's Dear Esther, Fullbright's Gone Home, Campo Santo's Firewatch, and Giant Sparrow's What Remains of Edith Finch explore family histories and personal tragedies.

Editing and Perspective Shifts

The film's editing is a powerful aspect. It plays the two protagonists' perspectives against each other, splicing and lining them up for stunning moments of convergence. This is a technique rarely seen in video games, although there are some good examples like Brendon Chung's Thirty Flights of Loving.

Occasionally, Ross breaks out of first person to take a third-person view, tightly framed behind a character's shoulders, creating a destabilizing effect. Shots like the poster shot of the two boys looking up into a ceiling mirror together are both artistically and emotionally captivating.

Comparing Cinematic and Gaming Narratives

There is a level of sophistication and playfulness in how Ross sets up the movie's first-person form and breaks it that is not often seen in games. But the subjective, enveloping storytelling that Nickel Boys taps into is familiar to most gamers.

For those currently captivated by the film, dipping into some gaming's first-person greats would be a worthwhile experience. Nickel Boys opens in limited release on Dec. 13 and expands to wide release on Jan. 3, 2025.