Ava DuVernay’s long-anticipated series about the Central Park Five has just gotten its first trailer, exactly 30 years after the beginning of the case it addresses.
When They See Us, a four-part limited Netflix series, stars Jharrel Jerome, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez, and Asante Blackk as Korey Wise, Anton McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson, respectively.
Beginning in the spring of 1989, when the teenagers were first apprehended for a brutal assault and rape, the series will span 25 years, including their exoneration in 2002 and their 2014 settlement with the city of New York. Jerome is playing the older Wise, while Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Freddy Miyares, and Justin Cunningham take on the other older counterparts.
The trailer alone is affecting to watch, as both the obvious youth of the cast and the focus on the degree to which race, not justice, affected the outcome of the trials play a heavy part.
For a further sense of the series, check out the single-take teaser below:
The truth you haven't heard. This is the story of the boys they called the Central Park Five. @Ava DuVernay's #WhenTheySeeUs debuts May 31, only on @Netflix. pic.twitter.com/aP9KXt9hFg
— When They See Us (@WhenTheySeeUs) March 1, 2019
