This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

“It’s the same story, just a different name”

Freddie Gray
Sam Dubose
Philando Castile
Terence Crutcher
Alton Sterling
Jamar Clark
Breonna Taylor
Rayshard Brooks 
George Floyd
Jeremy McDole
Tamir Rice
Michael Brown
Eric Garner...

The list goes on... this is why they kneel... I was crying the whole damn movie (no, I’m not over exaggerating... this movie brought me to tears for its entire 2+ hour run time). Strong performances by Amandla Stenberg and Russell Hornsby... THIS IS AMERICA

“It is impossible to be unarmed, when our blackness is the weapon that they fear” 

Lists
2018: Ranked

good movie but KJ Apa possessed by Casey Frey being Amandla Steinbergs new white boyfriend almost made me scream as soon I saw him in frame

I was saddened to learn of screenwriter Audrey Wells' death and I had this lined up to see. Amandla Stenberg gives a great performance as Starr Carter, caught up in two worlds: her life in an African American community and her life at prep school. The film is way better than the trailer. All of the supporting characters are solid as well. The social injustice portrayed is definitely dramatized. However, it uses real examples of people who were unjustly killed including Emmett Till and Sandra Bland. It upsetting to know that police brutality exists, but refreshing to know that young people will stand up to it and fight it until it stops.

Vegan alert:
Some non-vegan foods are featured.

There is also extreme violence toward humans in this film.

Not to be dramatic but this should replace the entire history curriculum in high schools all over the world.

The American police system is so fucked up. The police have become way too power-hungry in their teachings, telling their officers to shoot to kill instead of aiming at somewhere where it would stop the suspect without killing them. And I’m not generalizing the entire police. There are good cops. But there are enough bad cops that it has become an issue that needs to be mended. Police brutality against marginalized communities is an issue in this country, whether you want to admit it or not. And there’s many other problems that we must fix with our marginalized communities. And the time is now.

The film was fantastic, by the way. It’s well-acted, well-made, & well-written, showing that YA novel adaptations can be more than just romance & dystopias.

“Violence, brutality. It’s the same story, just a different name.” 

ahhhh - I watched this film 2 days ago and I can't stop thinking about it. some of the reviews are making me tear up almost as much as the movie itself did. this should definitely be a mandatory viewing for everyone in my opinion, I learned quite a bit from watching this and the performances and direction from george tillman jr. were soooo great. I remember when I visited NYC in october and seeing all of the billboards advertising thinking I was so excited to watch it. amandla stenberg really deserved more praise for her performance! a lot of people seem not to like her but she was so good and I can't wait to see what she does next.

if you haven't watched this, I highly recommend you seek it out and tell your friends!

2018 RANKED

read this last week and would really recommend the book. this adaptation is a tiny bit worse than Alright but i still think it’s worth the watch. the final pages of the book list some of the names of black people who have been murdered and it’s heartbreaking. with those names and everything going on right now i can’t tell whether this was comforting or just made me feel even more helpless to be honest. the way the story translates onto the screen just mimics the news at the moment.

also: ACAB and fuck that hailey girl

a re-watch definitely makes the flaws in this film much more evident but regardless i really do think this is a mandatory viewing for everyone—absolutely gut-wrenching. amandla is amazing

mostly familiar, glossy Issues melodrama that nonetheless builds and layers on enough richly detailed emotional reality and political/historical context (that frequently interact with and complicate each other) to make this completely engrossing even when the writing gets blunt and overplays its hand—which it does severely in a handful of dialogue exchanges and narration. as far as polished, mainstream liberal primers go however this is well-observed and emphatically felt.

5.5/10

I liked the book more

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This film made such an impact on me. I got literal chills while watching it, I read the book and loved it so I got just as I expected. Amandla Stenberg did absolutely amazing as their role and so did the whole cast. I strongly recommend this film as well as the book. I loved it so much, it's one of my comfort movies.

the movie stayed some what true to the book

a powerful story no matter how it’s told, but the book just hits so much harder. can i recommend that instead of watching this movie you just read everything angie thomas has ever written?

If a officer say dont move. Dont. Fucking. Move.

This is so well-made, everyone needs to watch this and I would personally love to break her friend’s neck for her. It is so painfully real and relevant I had to pause it several times, it explores trauma in a very responsible and educational way and doesn’t exploit the tragedy (which is very rare). It’s a very raw depiction and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to any of my black friends who would have always been self-aware but to all white people period.

Really touching and real. I loved everything about this. There were some technical things that were just personal preference, that's why it's a 4.5. Other than that amazing, really incredible.

more coming-of-age cringe than i wanted to see but this made me very emotional

a white boy?????

The thing I hate the most about this movie: They didn't cast a darkskin girl to play Starr.
The thing I loved the most: the "this boy is white" scene