Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) attends a private prep school with mostly white kids, but lives in a poor, black neighborhood. One night, her best friend Khalil (Algee Smith) drives her home from a party and they're stopped by police. Khalil is told to get out of the car and when he does, the cop shoots him dead. Shocked and horrified, Starr doesn't know what to do. Her family always tries to avoid the police, who always seem to be targetting black people.

Although the police have no interest in investigating what happened that night, Starr slowly comes to realize that she has to speak up and tell the truth, because she's haunted by nightmares and knows that her best friend deserves justice. Finally, the fate of the policeman comes down to Starr's testimony.

Based on Angie Thomas' young adult book of the same name.