As someone who’s only been to the barber once over the last six months, my hair is a mess. I desperately need a cut to fix the shaggy bowl cut that I’m currently sporting. But hey, it could be worse, at least my hair isn’t trying to kill anyone (only my self-esteem). Directed and written by Dear White People‘s Justin Simien, Bad Hair follows Anna, a young Black woman who’s trying to make it in music TV. When her white boss suggests that she get a weave to advance her career, Anna does so — except, oops, there’s “a hidden toll to pay at night,” Simien told EW about his 1980s-set throwback. “It’s a psychological social thriller that is a commentary on the American experience and the kind of quiet little deaths we all have to endure to advance and be seen by mainstream society.”
Watch the trailer above. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Bad Hair follows an ambitious young woman who gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career comes at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.
Bad Hair, which also stars Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Lena Waithe, Laverne Cox, Jay Pharoah, Kelly Rowland, Blair Underwood, James Van Der Beek, and Usher Raymond (THAT Usher, the one from Hustlers), premieres on Hulu on October 23.