Film Review - The Hate U Give (12A)

How many more of us do you have to kill before you get it?

The Hate U Give is adapted from Angie Thomas's award-winning debut novel of 2017. The book became a young adult literary sensation through its head-on tackling of some very adult, very contemporary themes. And any sense that the film is going to pander to a young audience is banished pretty much instantly it begins. Transcending all that 'teen movie' might imply, it proves darker, harder and more challenging in cultural terms than anything its 12A rating might lead you to expect.

Amandla Stanberg plays Starr Carter, brought up in Garden Heights, an economically struggling, predominantly black neighbourhood plagued by gang violence. Her parents have fought hard for her place in the private, largely white Williamson Prep School, although her attendance there results in a kind of double life. She mustn't appear too 'hood' (her word) at Williamson, or bring too much of the prep-school girl back to Garden Heights. But the balance between Starr's two worlds is threatened along with much else, when she is the sole witness to a devastating moment of police violence. The consequences of the incident will test everything her parents have taught her, forging the kind of adult she will become.

Reflecting US news stories that occur with painful regularity, The Hate U Give is as powerful and articulate a cry of rage in its way as Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman. It has the intelligence to deal with its racially charged subject-matter in a nuanced way, yet ultimately asserts its beliefs with bold conviction. At its heart is a truly revelatory performance from the 20-year-old Stanberg. (Remember tragic little Rue in the first Hunger Games film?) She's charming as the lively, intelligent teenager, and then so much more when her world is shattered in a terrible instant. Grief, fury, compassion and defiance - she conveys them all with breathtaking power and sincerity. Her CV shows her to be no novice, but for me this is like the arrival of a very special talent.

She has back-up at all points, starting with a smart adapted screenplay that allows moments of humour to leaven the fierceness of the drama. George Tillman Jr's direction is focused, maximising the story's power without ever letting it slip into melodrama. In fact realness is this movie's watchword. Russell Hornsby and Girls Trip's Regina Hall apply different but complimentary kinds of wisdom as Starr's parents, his gang tattoos clueing us to a turbulent past that still haunts him. One-time rapper Common brings alternative perspective as her police officer Uncle Carlos, while Anthony Mackie (such an all-round decent guy as Falcon in the Captain America movies) has real menace as a local gang boss. Look out too for Detroit's Algee Smith, effortlessly charismatic as Starr's childhood friend Khalil. 

They - and others - represent key facets of Starr's life and the conflicting directions in which she's being pulled, as she struggles to find her own course of action in the eye of a tumultuous storm.

Demanding that the Black Lives Matter movement be not just listened to but properly heard, with a title from Tupac Shakur's Thug Life acronym ('The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone'), this film is as fearless as the novel on which it is based. Racism, crime, poverty, police brutality, privilege, community, identity, inter-racial relationships - they're all dealt with here without flinching. There's also a debate on the significance of macaroni cheese and an extended Harry Potter metaphor. Now that's a movie - teen or otherwise - for our times. Make it a priority.

Gut Reaction: Lots of hand-clasped-to-face action, several visibly startled moment and I spoke out involuntarily at one point (a rare occurrence). Never less than utterly gripped and pretty emotional into the bargain.

Where Are the Women?: Properly introducing Amandla Stanberg, with great supporting turns from Regina Hall and Issa Rae (as political activist April Ofrah). And that sharp screenplay comes courtesy of Audrey Wells.

Ed's Verdict: 8.5/10. The more I think about it, the more I'm impressed. Searing drama that dares to wrestle with some seriously pressing questions.