The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give (2018) adapts Angie Thomas's novel and arrived in the middle of the American argument about police violence. Starr is sixteen and lives two lives. At home she is in a poor, Black neighbourhood. By day she is at an almost entirely white prep school. Having to be two different people is handled without ever making a speech about it. Then her childhood friend Khalil is shot by a police officer in front of her. The strength of the film is that it refuses to reduce this to a slogan. Her family, the drug economy in the neighbourhood, her school friends whose reactions are well meaning and blind at once, all of it stays on screen together. Nobody is drawn flat. Amandla Stenberg carries the film almost single handedly, with Russell Hornsby as her father right behind her. At 133 minutes the last half hour turns didactic. Good for: grounded teen drama, social realism, and book adaptations. This is one to watch with a teenager and then talk about. Less good for: the shooting is shown directly and it lands hard. If you want a neutral treatment, the film is openly taking a side.