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Elwood Curtis’ college dreams are dashed on a two-lane Florida highway. Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he’s condemned to the underworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reform school deep in the Jim Crow South. He meets another ward, Turner, who’s seen it all. The two black teenagers form an alliance: Turner dispenses crucial survival advice, Elwood clings to his optimistic worldview. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning civil rights movement, Elwood and Turner’s existence seems far removed from that of Rev. Martin Luther King’s burnished oratory. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood struggles to retain his humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner.