Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives in a poor area, but studies at a prestigious private school. The fragile bridge between her two lives collapses when, in front of Starr’s eyes, a policeman kills Khalil, her childhood friend. Very soon, Khalil’s death becomes a national sensation: some call him a bandit and a drug dealer, others organize processions in his honor. Starr and her family are threatened by the police and a local drug lord. Everyone wants to find out one thing: what really happened that night? Starr is the only one who knows the answer, and now not only her own life, but also the fate of other people is in her hands.