The Hate U Give Takes The Youth Film Genre And Pushes It Further With Its Hard-Hitting Yet Timely Message

     One of the most notable aspects of storytelling lies not just within its ability to entertain, but also its capability to deliver stories to audiences containing narratives that are hard-hitting, informative and thought-provoking. Those types of films are unique because of their abilities to reach audiences with their engrossing themes and messages regarding societal issues, which audiences can relate to while informing others. With The Hate U Give, the film is direct in its intentions to not only entertain its audience but to deliver a powerful message regarding a cycle of violence that's continuously being directed at a specific group of American citizens. Premiering at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, the film proved to be a box office success grossing $34 million domestically on a $23 million budget along with the film receiving unanimous critical acclaim with a stunning 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Much of the films praise was directed towards the strong performance from lead actress Amandla Stenberg in a breakout performance as a young African-American girl struggling with maintaining two different versions of herself in society (One for her family and neighborhood, the other for her school), while coming to terms with the killing of her longtime childhood friend at the hands of police. The films good fortune both financially and critically, is well-deserved as The Hate U Give delivers on its promise of being an emotionally absorbing and eye-opening experience for audiences with a narrative that reflects on a very serious issue that minorities face in today's society. For a young-adult film, it largely impresses in regards to quality while taking the youth genre in a more serious direction with issues that many young people find themselves facing.

      Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Angie Thomas, the plot for The Hate U Give centers around a young African-American teenage girl named Starr Carter witnessing the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by a young police officer. Torn between the world of the one involving her family/neighborhood and the other with her attending a mostly white prep school, Starr is forced to choose between the two as she faces pressure from all sides to do the right thing in regards to testifying, as well as speaking out regarding her friends killing. The plot for The Hate U Give serves as being bold and speaks to its audience in a form that's designed to spark thought-provoking discussions regarding whether a person should have to feel the need to form two different sides of themselves to fit within society as a whole, as well as the unjust shootings of young African-American men at the hands of police that has become a major issue in today's society. The film explores these issues in great depth and brings awareness to them with the audience, along with delivering a final message that can best be summed up as a rallying cry for audiences to do their own part in regards to being apart of the overall solution to these issues. The Hate U Give is a raw and emotional story that's bold in scope, completely noble in its ambitions, and delivers its message with a tremendous amount of heart and passion behind its production. It's not easy viewing and comes across as being unapologetic with the harsh realities it shows along with the conclusions it draws, but it's a film that audiences needed and ultimately can be both entertained by and learn from as it's a story that feels perfect for current times with terrific performances and sincere directing to back it up.

      Much of the films success at effectively telling it's story lies within the strong and energetic performances of its main cast with everyone bringing their A game to their roles. The performances that the film carries come across as feeling both sincere and heartfelt with the amount of emotion the actors put into their roles. The true standout performance goes to Amandla Stenberg in her role as Starr Carter with Stenberg creating a sympathetic character, who essentially walks as if she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders in regards to fitting in within society, as well as struggling over making the right decision in regards to speaking out regarding her friends killing. The role requires an enormous amount of emotional depth for the actress playing it with Stenberg managing to meet the challenge head on, showcasing a surprising amount of dramatic range. Regina Hall and Russell Hornsby both shine as Starr's parents, Lisa and Maverick carter with Hall nailing both the loving and concerned mother role to a T as she wants her family to have a better life outside of their neighborhood, despite the insistence of her husband that their place is with the rest of the African-Americans in their community. Hornsby impresses in a commanding performance as Starr's father Maverick with his character being a stern father figure, who not only loves his kids but attempts to shield them from the outside forces surrounding them such as the local gangs, along with being stopped and questioned by police. Hornsby plays his character as being an imperfect father figure, who realizes the error of his past in regards to being a former member of the local neighborhood gang called the King Lords, which landed him with a three year prison sentence. Lamar Johnson also does well playing Starr's older half-brother Seven with him sharing a natural chemistry with Stenberg, Hall, and Hornsby. The rest of the supporting cast give notable performances with KJ Apa as Starr's boyfriend Chris, who struggles to understand what Starr is experiencing but remains supportive of her nonetheless. Sabrina Carpenter proves effective as Hailey Grant, one of Starr's High School friends who slowly unveils racist thoughts regarding the fatal police shooting as the story progresses. Other strong supporting roles are Common as Starr's uncle Carlos whose a police detective, Issa Rae as April Ofrah, a protest organizer who pursues Starr to not only testify against the officer that shot her friend but also to become a national voice against police violence, Dominique Fishback as Starr's best friend and Sevens half sister Kenya, TJ Wright as Starr's younger brother, Megan Lawless as Starr's loyal school friend Maya, and Anthony Mackie as leader of the neighborhood King Lords gang named King. The cast as a whole for The Hate U Give proves to be terrific with everyone delivering performances, that add to both the believability and realism of the story. Everyone appears to be genuinely passionate about the story they're bringing to the screen with them taking their roles and making the most out of them. Despite the casts strong work overall, it's Amandla Sternberg's performance that makes the film as powerful as it ultimately comes across.

      The films directing by George Tillman Jr. is both steady and well-handled with Tillman giving the story a personal yet somewhat epic feel to it with all the different themes it covers. He keeps a firm hand on the wheel in terms of keeping the films narrative focused, while allowing the actors to control the scenes with their performances. He manages to get one's out of his cast that feel both convincing and real with the camera capturing every ounce of emotion that's visible on the actors faces. One of the strongest aspects of the film on its technical side is the cinematography it delivers. The cinematography does a fantastic job of showing the two different worlds that the character of Starr inhabits. For the predominantly surburban white school that Starr goes to, the camera work captures blue lockers and a glass that reflects the sky in contrast to Starr's fictional hometown Garden Heights, that appears scorching hot with red and orange curtains filling up the main characters family house. The camera work does much to show the distinction between the two sides of society through the perspective of Starr, as she struggles to survive both. The films editing maintains a slow pace allowing for the audience to become drawn into the story with them getting a feel for all the key characters in the film, while waiting anxiously to see what happens next involving Starr's character. The films score by Dustin O" Halloran is beautiful and helps add to the emotional power of the story along with conveying the switch that Starr's character makes when juggling both worlds. As far as the films directing goes, George Tillman Jr. does a terrific job of bringing the best-selling novel to life on the big screen while allowing the film to take a life of its own. The films visual elements presented here are used in a way that benefits the story with none of them ever feeling as if they distract from the overall story or narrative. Tillman gives the film a young adult style feel to it, but also manages to surprise as well as impress with the maturity that's brought to the screen regarding the films story and themes. He turns out to be the reliable and dependent filmmaker, that the cast can rely on in effectively delivering their stellar performances.

       In terms of the films writing, the screenplay by Audrey Wells is well-structured and asks the hard-hitting questions regarding many of the films themes that the script touches on. Some of the themes that the film covers deal with racism, police violence against African-Americans, sacrifice, gangs and gang life, the flawed justice system, unity, and ultimately change. While it may seem that the script juggles far too many themes within its story, Wells manages to explore all of them with enough depth throughout the course of the film without the story feeling overwhelmed or bloated. She does an exceptional job of building up all the key characters in the film, while supplying them with enough development to make them feel like real people that the audience may know personally or come across. The internal struggle that Starr's character experiences in regards to trying to fit into the two different worlds she lives in, is well-balanced and begs the audience to question whether anyone should have to feel the need to leave behind one side of them at home in order to fit in another part of society. This is a film which feels that the dialogue is key to conveying the characters feelings and emotions to the audience with Starr asking her family and friends the hardball questions that come with brutal answers. Some of the films most powerful moments where the character of Starr feels the struggle of learning where her place is within society are the moments where she clashes with her friend Hailey over whether the actions of the police officer in the killing of Starr's childhood friend was justifiable or whether the officer in question deserves to be sympathized. Another key moment is one involving both Starr and her Uncle Carlos in which Starr questions him on how he would approach a rich white man in the same scenario as khalil with Carlos answer confirming a bias in the way African-Americans are predominantly treated by cops. The subplot between Khalil and Starr is brief but effectively developed to where the audience get a sense of their relationship before tragedy strikes. As intense and heartbreaking as the story comes across, the moments where the films heart truly shines through are those with Starr and her family which include references to Harry Potter and knowledge that their father instilled into their heads to empower his kids. The films opening scene where the audience witnesses Starr's father giving his children an uneasy conversation regarding what to do if they're pulled over by police, is brilliant in serving two purposes which include instantly drawing the audience into the story along with setting up the key plot element of the film while representing classic foreshadowing. The work that Wells does on the films script is both masterful and poetic with each character subplot working within the films overall plot. The film has much that it wants to say with its 130 minute running time and here Wells utilizes each moment including many of the key characters to get all of the films main points across. As well-written as the script is, it's a great shame that the film failed to receive a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

     Having said that, The Hate U Give certainly won't be a film that everyone will particularly want to watch nor enjoy as some audiences will find both uneasiness and discomfort with many of the revelations the film exposes. The film is aimed to give it's audience both a powerful and emotional story, that often serves as a reflection of our own society and it's major problems. In that regard, the film fulfills it's intentions to the fullest while sparking a discussion that audiences may not be comfortable with having, but should in reflecting on many of the issues presented in the story. The Hate U Give is a young adult drama that's fierce in it's storytelling, bold in it's scope, unapologetic in the conclusions it draws, and urgent in the era its story is reflecting on. It hits the audience hard with its themes while effectively placing them into the shoes of the main character as they not only grow to care about Starr, but want to see her do the right thing in the end which is to become the voice for the voiceless. As an issue film, it hits the audience hard and demands they take action in regards to making the change the movie calls for in regards to breaking the cycle of violence that occurs frequently between police and African-Americans. For both the audience as well as the character of Starr, they find a young heroine/rebel that they can get behind and root for as she essentially begins the film struggling with maintaining two different personas before embracing her true self by the films end. It's a film that audiences may or may not be ready for but is certainly one that they should at the very least experience once in their lifetime.

Final Verdict: One of 2018's underappreciated and forgotten gems, The Hate U Give is a surprisingly strong and unsettling young adult drama, that hits the audience hard while making them reflect on the society they currently occupy.