FIRST LOOK: HBO sets release date and drops trailer for ‘Native Son’ starring Kiki Layne and Ashton Sanders
The film debuts on April 6 at 10pm.
Based on the classic novel by Richard Wright, Native Son will debut April 6 on HBO. The film directed by renowned visual artist Rashid Johnson from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks premiered to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Sundance 2019: ‘Native Son’ offers strong start for star-studded festival
The modern day take on the classic novel tells the story of Bigger Thomas (Ashton Sanders), a young African-American living in Chicago who is hired as a chauffeur for affluent businessman Will Dalton (Bill Camp). As Thomas enters this seductive new world of money and power — including a precarious relationship with Dalton’s daughter, Mary (Margaret Qualley) he faces unforeseen choices and perilous circumstances that will alter the course of his life forever. The cast also includes Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Elizabeth Marvel, David Alan Grier and Sanaa Lathan as Bigger’s mother.
Native Son will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms.
Check out the official synopsis:
Moving into their mansion, [Big] begins driving Dalton’s vehemently progressive daughter, Mary. But his involvement in an accidental death places Big on a collision course with the powerful social forces pitted against him. A thoroughly contemporary reworking of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel, Native Son asserts the story’s persistent relevance by bringing its interrogation of fear, violence, race, and circumstance into a critical modern context.
While we won’t give you any spoilers, we can tell you to expect to be moved in more ways than one. Native Son delivers several heart-stopping moments and manages to be as complex as the novel it’s based on. Incredible performances from this talented cast offer authentic depictions of a Black experience that is finally being represented in a real way.
Check out the stirring trailer below:
Native Son debuts on HBO on April 6 at 10pm.
