June 25 (UPI) -- Actress Amandla Stenberg witnesses her best friend die at the hands of a police officer in the first trailer for The Hate U Give.
The clip, released Sunday, explores how Stenberg's character Starr Carter is a teenager living a double life as she resides with her family in the poor, predominantly black neighborhood of Garden Heights while attending a wealthy prep school made up of mostly white students.
Starr's life is then turned upside down once her childhood best friend is gunned down by a police officer during a fun night out.
As Garden Heights begins to protest police brutality and tensions rise, Starr rises up to the occasion and decides to let her voice be heard in order to honor her fallen friend.
The Hate U Give, based on the Angela Thomas novel of the same name, is directed by George Tillman Jr. and is set to arrive in theaters on Oct. 19. Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, KJ Apa, Sabrina Carpenter, Common and Anthony Mackie also star.
Apa, a star on The CW's Riverdale, was added to the film as Starr's boyfriend in place of YouTube star Kian Lawley in April after a video surfaced of Lawley using racial slurs.