In an America more divided daily by the rhetoric of President Trump, we in Britain may have forgotten the huge discrimination still faced by people of colour there. The Hate U Give focuses on one such problem - police shootings.
Starr (brilliantly played by Amandla Stenberg) is relatively lucky, her loving parents paying for her to go to Williamson, a wealthy and predominantly white school. She leads a double life;
"Williamson Starr doesn't give anyone a reason to call her ghetto," she says. "And I hate myself for doing it." She keeps her white boyfriend Chris and friends at a distance from her home life, which she manages pretty well until the night when she witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, get shot by a white police officer at a traffic stop
Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press.
Khalil’s death becomes a national story and Starr's decision - should she speak up? Should she testify? - will define her life and those around her: Kahlil was working for a local drug lord, King, who wants her to keep quiet in case the police take him down too. Her classmates seem disconnected, even her boyfriend is slow to learn (he is used here to show that this issue affects as all).
A must-see for us here in the UK; hopefully the festival has inspired you for more great films; see you there!