Free Republic

Race, class, love, death, white privilege, black disadvantage. Those heavy subjects are present, alongside the seemingly foregone conclusions that the system is rigged against those at the bottom by those at the top, you can’t fight city hall (but you absolutely must not give in to despair). Alongside the kaleidoscopic chaos of just plain being a teenager in 21st-century America, these global themes carom off each other in this wise and bittersweet adaptation of Angie Thomas’ best-selling young-adult novel.