Queen & Slim
QUEEN & SLIM - Universal
Melina Matsoukas’s Queen & Slim is a stunning feature film debut from the mind of writer Lena Waithe, telling a challenging and controversial love story framed within the backdrop of the United States at the height of its modern racial divide. In an era defined by police brutality against African Americans, Matsoukas and Waithe search for humanity in the victims of these events, choosing to dive deep into the psyche of the film’s subjects and develop their characters through the differences in their outlook and the love that eventually grows between them.
Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya star in the titular roles as Queen & Slim, respectively, two damaged people who meet on a Tinder date, whose fates quickly become intertwined after they kill a police officer in self-defence after being pulled over and nearly killed themselves. What starts as a suspenseful caper about two strangers running from the law develops into a deeply soulful romantic drama about two lost souls confronting and defining their legacy.
Kaluuya’s Slim believes that everything in life is destined and the only legacy that matters is how one is perceived by those they love. Turner-Smith’s Queen believes in luck and the power of choice and action, legacy is a matter of what one does and whom with they choose to share a part of themselves. This film confronts the idea of legacy at every turn, from the people they meet on their journey to the way their journey unfolds and the growing love between the two main characters.
Kaluuya and Turner-Smith are exceptionally real here, imbuing their characters with a sense of relatability and raw humanity amidst the danger they find themselves in. The supporting cast also elevates the story by including a wide variety of perspectives, some of which are sympathetic to their plight and some of which wish them harm. Bokeem Woodbine, in particular, is a standout as Uncle Earl, a man closely tied to Queen’s personal history as well as her evolving understanding of legacy. Through its characters, the film explores the value of black people as human beings and how they can either be immortalized as martyrs or personified as criminals. Waithe’s script chooses to build them as human beings before the trouble starts and continues to explore their fragmented conceptions of identity and self-worth throughout.
On a technical level, this film succeeds at communicating Queen and Slim’s mental state as well as visually conveys the fear and love they continuously feel while capturing the cold and desolate nature of their environment. On every level, it has a beautiful soul that reflects that of its leads: through the introspective cinematography from Tat Radcliffe, the melodic and sorrowful original score from Devonté Hynes and the sensitive and thoughtful direction from Matsoukas.
At times, it feels quite a bit too long, for it drags during the second act and gets repetitive in its plotting. However, it stays consistent in the incisive exploration of its fervent social themes while still taking great care to portray its leads as people. Queen & Slim is a powerful, meditative and emotional experience that explores its characters and themes with depth and an undercurrent of humanity that painfully illustrates the harsh reality of the African American experience.
Queen & Slim is released November 27th in the U.S. and January 31st, 2020.
