Ahead of its debut on Netflix this Friday, a new When They See Us trailer has been released. This trailer, in particular, is the first to spend the majority of time highlighting the adult lives of the exonerated five. We see how they struggle to adjust to life outside of incarceration.
Our Shadow And Act review of the series reads, “We owe it to these men to listen to their stories and pay as much attention to their exoneration and the celebration of their survival as was paid to their unjust condemnation. Because we cannot avoid these mistakes in our future without first reckoning with our past, When They See Us is a story that needs to be watched and heard, loud and clear.”
Here’s the official description of the series: Based on a true story that gripped the country, ‘When They See Us’ will chronicle the notorious case of five teenagers of color, labeled the Central Park Five, who were convicted of a rape they did not commit. The four-part limited series will focus on the five teenagers from Harlem — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. Beginning in the spring of 1989, when the teenagers were first questioned about the incident, the series will span 25 years, highlighting their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014.
Portraying the young versions of the five are Jharrel Jerome, Ethan Herisse, Caleel Harris, Asante Blackk, and Marquis Rodriguez. Jerome will also play the adult version of his character, alongside Chris Chalk, Freddy Miyares, Jovan Adepo, and Justin Cunningham as the others.
Felicity Huffman and Vera Farmiga will play members of the prosecution team, while Michael K. Williams, John Leguizamo, Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, Kylie Bunbury, Storm Reid, and Marsha Stephanie Blake play family members of the accused. Famke Janssen, Aurora Perrineau, Omar J. Dorsey, and Adepero Oduye also have roles.
The series was created by Ava DuVernay, who also co-wrote and directed the four parts. Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King from Participant Media, Oprah Winfrey from Harpo Films and Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh and Robert De Niro from Tribeca Productions will executive produce the limited series alongside DuVernay through her banner, Forward Movement. DuVernay, Attica Locke, Robin Swicord, and Michael Starrbury also serve as writers on the limited series.
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Photo: Netflix
