The Hate U Give, a screenplay of Angie Thomas’ novel of the same name, was released to select theaters on October 5 and to theaters everywhere on October 19. This film was surrounded by the controversy of racism and police brutality, but its message focuses on the personal triumph of its main character.

Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) is not the average teenager. Growing up in Garden Heights, Starr learned to create two different versions of herself: Starr and Starr 2.0. For her entire life, she has kept these two versions separate; one version for the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the other for the rich, mostly white private high school that she attends.

When Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her best friend, Khalil Harris (Algee Smith), by a white police officer, the fight against police brutality became more personal than ever, and the balance between the versions of herself are challenged. With the pressure of both communities in mind, Starr must decide whether or not to fight for Khalil and her community.

The casting director was “on fleek” with his choices of actors. Stenberg could not have been cast more perfectly for this part. As a fan, watching her grow up from her early supplementary role as Rue in the Hunger Games, to her more recent starring roles in Everything, Everything, and now The Hate U Give, has been satisfying. The progression of her acting is clear and the opportunity to shine in a movie with as much substance behind it as The Hate U Give shows maturity and creates much meaning in her acting journey. KJ Apa, who plays Starr’s boyfriend, Chris, fit into his part as well, characterized as the sweet, preppy, white boyfriend (though I found some of his flirting attempts to be extremely cringeworthy). Another character whose role held importance in the development of this film was Starr’s dad, Maverick Carter (Russell Hornsby). Along with his presence in Fences, Hornsby is a popular face in films associated with African-American rights and activism.

Famous rap artist, 2Pac, lived by the mantra “T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E.,” meaning “the hate you give little infants [destroys] everybody.” Angie Thomas stated in an interview with Cosmopolitan that when choosing her title for her novel, now movie, she was inspired by 2Pac and the tattoo that was so well known by his fans.

With his influence in mind, I found the implementation of two different songs by 2Pac, “All Eyez on Me” and “Only God Can Judge Me,” to The Hate U Give’s soundtrack to be a nostalgic and appropriate addition to the film. These tracks and many others were an excitement to hear throughout the movie for many rap-lovers, like myself. “DNA,” by Kendrick Lamar, was a perfect opener to the film; it showed Starr’s “DNA,” her origins in Garden Heights. In addition, certain songs were used to differentiate between Starr and Starr 2.0. For example, “Ocean Eyes,” a calm and soothing song, by Billie Eilish was played while Starr was with her friends from school, was juxtaposed with “Goosebumps,” by Travis Scott, an upbeat rap song, which played while she was at a party in Garden Heights.

The Hate U Give’s director, George Tillman Jr., did a fantastic job of portraying Angie Thomas’s novel in the most authentic way possible in a two hour and thirteen minute film. Like most other screenplays, there were, of course, certain scenes that didn’t make the cinema cut, but the parts that were left out did not stray too far from the story. However, there was one decision I did not agree with, which was the decision to cut DeVante from the movie— a character whose journey played a sizeable role in the novel. Instead, his major plot points were adopted by Starr’s brother, Seven (Lamar Johnson), which attempted to make up for the loss of DeVante’s character.

The Hate U Give is estimated to be released to Blu-Ray and DVD in January 2019, and will also be available for digital download on Prime Video and iTunes.

Photo credit: hollywoodreporter.com