BET+ has released the official trailer to the forthcoming Summer film Young.Wild.Free., which stars Sanaa Lathan, Mike Epps, Sierra Capri, and Algee Smith.
Per the synopsis, “A hot-tempered high school senior finds his claustrophobic life suddenly thrust into an enticing, dangerous direction after he’s robbed at gunpoint by the girl of his dreams.”
In the trailer, Smith plays Brandon, a troubled teenager who is “struggling in school.” After his job lets him go, and his mom (Lathan) is hit with property tax fees, Brandon steps up to help take care of his younger siblings – as his estranged father Lamont (Epps) offers no help. While in a store one day, an easy-on-the-eye rebel named Cassidy (Capri) enters where she not only sticks it up – ski mask and all – but also lures Brandon into her whimsical world of revolt.
The two pretty much become a modern day Bonnie and Clyde as they “make their way down an increasingly perilous path.”
Speaking on her role, Lathan shared with Ebony: “I was just taken by this kind of love story that has so many layers, layers of what it means to be a single mother and what it means to live in America in poverty and have to do everything we can to make ends meet, [while] dealing with mental health at the same time. It is such a huge, huge subject within our world, and especially our community, and I think that we don’t talk about it as much as we should start talking about it. But aside from that, just, artfully, I love the characters and was taken by Thembi’s vision.”
Smith, who’s starred in BET’s The New Edition Story, added that the film “beautifully portrays two Black teenagers in the hood [who are] on a journey that’s unexpected and how deeply it touches on mental health.”
For Capri, who took on the recurring role of Monse on the the Netflix show On My Block, she said: “I think Cassidy allows Brandon to escape. I think he finds joy and just the freedom in her having no boundaries, and her just being free. I think he’s inspired by that. I think he wishes that he was a little bit like that from time to time and he was able to just not care about what anyone thinks or have any responsibilities.”
Written by Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor, Young.Wild.Free is directed by Thembi L. Banks, and executively produced by Codie Elaine Oliver, Charlotte Koh, Prince Baggett, Jo Henriquez, Mark R. Wright, Jenna Cavelle, Tony Rettenmeier, Juel Taylor, Charles D. King, James Lopez, Poppy Hanks, Tommy Oliver, Baron Davis, Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd, and Lathan.
Take a look at the official trailer for Young.Wild.Free above, which airs on BET+ on June 27.
