I have not read Angie Thomas' New York Times Best Seller, The Hate U Give, yet, though it has been on my Amazon reading list for some time. However, I am almost certain the film adaptation will not be a book-to-film let down for those of you who have already read it!
The film has a 2 hour and 12 minute runtime, but manages to keep a nice pace without any drawn out or slow scenes. Having not yet read the book, I was expecting the film to mostly center on the wrongful death of a Black teenage boy at the hands of a police officer, but it touched on so much more. It touched on various aspects of my own experiences, like code switching and "the talk," and also portrayed and pulled on so many thoughts and emotions I have had as a Black person in the United States.
I expected to potentially cry, but I never expected to cry as much and as often as I did. What I found so unique about the film was how often I found myself emotional or in tears not just out of sympathy for the characters on the screen, but because my own experiences and emotional ties to those experiences were drawn out so strongly by scenes in the film. The experience was different in that typically a film makes me sympathize with, and maybe relate to, the characters, and then later upon further reflection my own past experiences and emotions may come forward. In this case, it was this unique experience of sympathizing with and relating to characters in a film while simultaneously feeling the film affirming my thoughts, my experiences, and my emotions. Obviously a lot of this is due to the subject matter, but I feel it is also related to the strong delivery and portrayal of these types of experiences within the film.
The all-star cast included Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), Regina Hall (Girls Trip), Russell Hornsby (Fences), Issa Rae (Insecure), Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Infinity War), Common (The Chi), Algee Smith (Detroit), and KJ Apa (Riverdale), among others. Everyone did a great job and gave believable performances. As mentioned before, the film's overall delivery of the story was well done. This of course must be credited not only to the cast, but also to the director, George Tillman, Jr. (Soul Food, Notorious), the screenwriter, Audrey Wells (Under the Tucson Sun), and of course Angie Thomas!
As of tonight The Hate U Give is in select cities, and it will be in theaters everywhere on October 19th. It is a must-see, and I highly recommend you support this film!
10/10