HBO Films has released the first trailer for Native Son, the adaptation of Richard Wright’s classic, controversial novel.

The film debuted at Sundance and A24, who initially planned to release it theatrically, sold it to HBO. It’ll debut on the premium cabler on April 6.

The adaptation is written by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks and conceptual artist and photographer Rashid Johnson helmed the film in his feature directorial debut.

Ashton Sanders leads the film as Bigger Thomas, alongside Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Sanaa Lathan, Bill Camp and more.

Here’s the description for the film: Right from the start, Bigger Thomas (Sanders) had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Our Sundance review of the film reads: How could Richard Wright’s contentious, 1940 novel land on-screen in this current social and political climate? The result is a film that still remains problematic, but reckons with its source material in an assured, modern way, as best as it can—much due to the directing, writing and magnificent tour-de-force from its lead.

Watch the trailer below:

READ MORE:

‘Native Son’: A Stylish, Witty Adaptation That Tries To Reckon With Its Dark, Tragic Source Material [Sundance Review]

Nick Robinson

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