The Hate U Give **** (2018, Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, K J Apa, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie, Common) – Movie Review

Amandla Stenberg gives a stellar performance as troubled high school teen Starr Carter, in director George Tillman Jr’s epic crime/ race drama The Hate U Give.

Audrey Wells writes a very convincing, well organised screenplay based on the novel by Angie Thomas. It is complex material, giving out complicated thoughts and messages. It needs to be approached and considered carefully. It deserves to be.

Amandla Stenberg stars as troubled high school teen Starr Carter, in The Hate U Give.

Starr Carter lives in a poor, mostly black, neighbourhood but attends a rich, mostly white, high school, placed there by her parents (Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby) for her safe upbringing. She has a white boyfriend called Chris (K J Apa) and a couple of white best friends. Then one night Starr reconnects with her childhood best friend Khalil (Algee Smith) and witnesses from the passenger seat of his car his fatal shooting at the hands of a white cop, who pulls Khalil over and mistakes his hair brush for a gun in the dark.

Unfortunately Khalil has been drug dealing for King (Anthony Mackie), so when Starr wants to stand up for what’s right she puts herself and her family in a lot of deep trouble.

The Hate U Give treads in these deep waters carefully and honourably, while delivering an entertaining story, confidently and successfully, with almost no wobbles or hesitations. Some of the scenes are powerful highlights, exceptionally done. It is dialogue and issue driven, but almost never feels talky or preachy. It gets a rage on but it is an anti-hate film, as the title implies. It is a film designed to provoke thought and debate, so finish your conversations before the film and start them again after.

RIP Audrey Wells, who died of cancer on 4 October 2018 in Santa Monica, California, aged 58, two weeks before the film was released. She was a notable screen-writer, known for Guinevere (1999), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) and George of the Jungle (1997).

The Hate U Give premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2018 and was first screened in the UK at the London Film Festival on 20 October 2018. It was released in the US on 19 October 2018 and in the UK on 22 October 2018.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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