Queen & Slim:
While on a forgettable first date together in Ohio, a man of colour (Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya) and a woman of colour (Jodie Turner-Smith, in her first starring feature-film role), are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. The situation escalates, with sudden and tragic results, when the man kills the police officer in self-defense. Terrified and in fear for their lives, the man, a retail employee, and the woman, a criminal defense lawyer, are forced to go on the run. But the incident is captured on video and goes viral, and the couple unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people across the country.
Queen & Slim is like a modern day interpretation of Bonnie & Clyde but the twist is they're the victims of circumstance. This is the first feature film by Melina Matsoukas (who has previously directed video clips for Beyonce), introducing the world to a beautifully shot film with fresh indie vibes, social commentary of police brutality and what’s it’s truly like to be a person of colour in America. I really enjoyed sitting in the cinema watching this film. I love killer road trip movies although I may have been secretly hoping for it to take us on the same type of trip as films like True Romance or Natural Born Killers, but unfortunately it didn't quite go that way. I still couldn't keep my eyes off the screen with such a beautiful looking cast and vast amount of scenery showing off all of America's diverse states.
I give the film a 3.5/5 because it did drag out a little towards the end; I look forward to seeing more from Director Melina Matsoukas and the cast in the future.
Director Melina Matsoukas
Writer Lena Waithe
Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith
