Starr (Amandla Stenberg) splits her life being two versions of herself. At home in the impoverished area of Garden Heights the community is predominantly black, but due to its gangs her parents send her to school out of town which is predominantly white. As a result she doesn’t feel quite at home in either. When she witnesses a police officer shoot and kill her friend Khalil (Algee Smith) she needs to find her true self and decide who she wants to be.

The Hate U Give is based on a best selling novel by Angie Thomas released only last year in 2017. It is a powerful story and would sit well alongside recent films such as BlacKkKlansman and Detroit as a depiction of racism in America. It’s worth pointing out that the U in the title is very specific to the message of the film, referencing Tupac lyrics. Something I sadly wasn’t aware of but was very happy to learn during the film.

Something it particularly excels at is depicting and explaining white privilege and how that impacts everyday life for this community. The opening scene tells us how Starr and her brothers received “the talk” from their dad when she was only 9. It’s just that here, “the talk” is how you should behave when a police officer stops you. It’s impact is immediate and it’s placed into context when we see that Starr is a child who grew up with Harry Potter films, a symbol of children born in the 21st century. There is no sugar coating here either, the world is shades of grey, different sides of the argument are presented but ultimately what matters is every person, regardless of colour.

Performances are excellent all round, but the two that stand out are Stenberg in the lead role and Russell Hornsby who plays her father Maverick. Stenberg does a great job of playing a teenager stuck between two worlds and Hornsby is eminently watchable as someone who used to be on the wrong path looking to impart the right values in his children.

A powerful message.

One final thought, I saw this at an advanced secret show and it is always so disappointing to see anyone walk out when the certificate appears. More so in this case when almost a third of the cinema left. They missed out.