The worlds of YA fiction, coming-of-age tales and racial/police action politics don't often merge, but The Hate U Give blends them in a topical tale. Check out the first trailer for the new drama.
Adapted by Audrey Wells from Angie Thomas' bestseller, the film has George Tillman Jr. in the director's chair for the story of Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), who splits her time between two very different neighbourhoods.
There's Garden Heights, the mostly black, poor locale where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil (Algee Smith) at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.
Dealing with pertinent issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the fraught nature of life for some young people in the states, the film suffered its own road bump after filming concluded when YouTuber and sometime actor Kian Lawley, who had played Starr's boyfriend Chris in the film, was removed from the cast after a video surfaced showing him using racial slurs. Ge was replaced by K.J. Apa, who joined the other actors for some necessary reshoots.
The likes of Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Common and Anthony Mackie are in the cast for The Hate U Give, arriving in Stateside cinemas on 19 October before heading to the UK on 2 November.
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