'The Hate U Give' First Trailer & Images

Get a first look at upcoming film, The Hate U Give, based on Angie Thomas’s bestselling, #BlackLivesMatter-inspired YA novel.

I need to begin this by saying I haven’t yet read Angie Thomas’s bestselling (many times over) YA novel T.H.U.G., but I promise to rectify this way before the film comes out in October.

With that said, I am super excited for this movie! The first trailer premiered last night during the BET Awards, and judging from reactions on social media, from book readers and non-book readers alike, The Hate U Give (film) will be just as impactful as the book.

In the trailer, we meet Starr Carter and her family. She grows up in a poor, mostly Black neighborhood, but find a lot of joy, and her family are pillars in that community. With that said, due to violence at the local high school, Starr’s parents send her to a rich, mostly White, prep school. We watch Starr negotiate these two very different parts of her life, code-switching between the school week and weekend, not wanting to be perceived as “ghetto” by her White schoolmates. Unfortunately, Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil, and while dealing with her personal grief, she strives to stand up for justice and confront the various pressures from different parts of her community.

Amandla Stenberg stars as Starr Carter, with Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, KJ Apa, Algee Smith, Lamar Johnson, Issa Rae, Sabrina Carpenter, Common, and Anthony Mackie also joining the cast.

Sometimes our world does feel like it’s coming apart at the seams; it’s so important that popular culture reflect these struggles and provoke or even reorient our discourse, leading to opportunities for change. Angie Thomas absolutely does this while unpacking social justice concerns about police brutality and #BlackLivesMatter.

The Hate U Give premieres on October 19, 2018!