It's always going to be a risky proposition to build a broad, unsubtle youth "message film" around the very real issue of police brutality against black people in the United States.
Such a film walks a tightrope: balancing the very real possibility that your "teachable moment" is a triumph, or otherwise painfully missing the mark in representing the community at risk. Thankfully, YA film The Hate U Give more or less achieves the former, constructing a bold, deliberate, but nevertheless engaging treatise on modern race relations for young audiences.
Adapted from Angie Thomas' bestseller, The Hate U Give stars Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games, The Darkest Minds) as Starr, a bright, 90s-loving black teenager living in a predominantly black neighbourhood caught between oppression from ever-prowling cops and a lively gang contingent. When her childhood friend is shot during a police stop after a party, Starr is forced into a national struggle to assert the importance and dignity of black lives.
From the title, cropped from a Tupac Shakur lyric – "the hate u give little infants f***s everybody" (translating to "THUG-LIFE"), it's clear the film has very specific intentions – to educate younger audiences about the thorny issue of police brutality by exposing the often under-represented point of view of those suffering from it. It's a noble and desperately needed message, and The Hate U Give offers up a compelling, disturbing but still teen-friendly introduction to the topic.