Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) is in the car when her friend, Khalil is stopped by a police officer. Khalil (Algee Smith) is giving her a ride home, and wondering if he might rekindle an old flame from their childhood. However Starr now attends a private school and has a boyfriend, Chris (K.J. Apa). Starr's father (Russell Hornsby) has taught her how to avoid problems with the police. Put your hands on the dash board so they can be seen. She admonishes Khalil, but he is flippant, and reaches for a brush after the officer told him not to move. The next thing if Khalil is shot and killed, the officer mistaking the brush for a gun.
Starr is caught in the middle. After investigation, at which Starr testifies, the officer is let off. This leads to racial tension and rioting. Starr speaks up, and becomes a target of the local drug dealers. She concludes that it is not the "hate that you give, but the hate that we give" because hate is a revolving door. However the title of the movie does not reflect this insight.
This movie says some thing that need to be said. However, the tension might go over the top for me. It reminds me of a movie in my youth, "Billy Jack." The story is fiction. However it is meant to reflect current events. The movie also points out how someone can be racist, even if they think they are making the right choices.
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