The film adaptation of Rebecca Skloot’s nonfiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks premieres on HBO this weekend.

Told through the eyes of Henrietta Lacks’ daughter, Deborah Lacks, the film chronicles her search, along with journalist Rebecca Skloot, to learn about the mother she never knew and understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever.

The book was a best seller for good reason. It closely examines issues of ethics and medicine; of science and faith; and pointed a light at the dark history of medical experimentation on African Americans.