New Trailer for Racial Satire 'Dear White People'

Earning comparisons to Spike Lee's college-set racial satire School Daze (my favorite Lee film), Justin Simien's Dear White People was the most talked about movie to emerge at Sundance. And for good reason as the film is guaranteed to ruffle a few feathers, just as the bombastic title suggests it would. With a release date right around the corner and coming off a well-received teaser, a full trailer has been released to show why so many are high on Dear White People as a sleeper hit.

Starring Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris, Brandon P. Bell, Kyle Gallner, and Dennis Haysbert, the story takes place at the fictional Westchester University, where the fiery rabble-rousing host of a controversial radio show titled "Dear White People" is stirring up all types of racial animus. When the white students host a racist party where they all dress up as their favorite black stereotypes, the powder keg is set to explode and consume everybody. The trailer does a good job of showing off Simien's sharp wit and the film does take a biting look at modern racism (especially the use of "code words" to hide it), but I had issues with the story's overall lack of focus.

Dear White People opens October 17th.