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Watch the new trailer for ‘When They See Us,’ Ava DuVernay’s look at the Central Park Five

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The new trailer for Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” does not pull any punches.

Released Friday, the first full trailer for the upcoming Netflix release gives viewers their first look at footage from the limited series based on the decades-long case that started with five teenagers of color being wrongfully accused of raping and beating a Central Park jogger in 1989.

“The story you know is the lie they told you,” proclaims the trailer as it decries the injustices faced by young Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise – known collectively as the Central Park Five – as investigators declared that “every black male who was in the park” when the attack occurred was a suspect.

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The footage highlights the aggressive tactics of police and prosecutors as they pursued a conviction against the teens, portrayed by Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez, Asante Blackk and Jharrel Jerome.

DuVernay, who directed and co-wrote “When They See Us,” has previously described the project as “a film in four parts about who [these young men] really were.”

The four-part series will kick off with the events in 1989 and span 25 years, including their convictions, their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with New York City in 2014.

The series’ ensemble cast also includes Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Justin Cunningham, Freddy Miyares, Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Blair Underwood, Christopher Jackson, Joshua Jackson, Omar J. Dorsey, Adepero Oduye, Famke Janssen, Aurora Perrineau, William Sadler, Aunjanue Ellis, Kylie Bunbury, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Storm Reid and Dascha Polanco.

“When They See Us” will debut on Netflix on May 31.

tracy.brown@latimes.com

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Twitter: @tracycbrown

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