Queen & Slim (2019)

Directed by: Melina Matsoukas | 132 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloë Sevigny, Flea, Sturgill Simpson, Indya Moore, Benito Martinez, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Gralen Bryant Banks, Dickson Obahor, Bryant Tardy, Thom Gossom Jr., Melanie Halfkenny

They are called the black Bonnie and Clyde, the two protagonists of the romantic crime drama ‘Queen & Slim’ (2019) by debut director Melina Matsoukas. But where Bonnie and Clyde – who really existed and were immortalized thanks to the legendary 1967 film starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty – consciously chose a life as criminals and ran away from the police through robbery and murder, Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) are unwillingly fugitives. In that respect they are more like ‘Thelma & Louise’ (1991), in which two girlfriends flee because they shoot an obtrusive assailant in self-defense and also encounter the necessary untrustworthy types along the way. Queen and Slim can have a say in that. And it all started so innocently, with a Tinder date in a shabby diner (she: ‘did you pick this place because it was the only thing you could afford’; he: ‘no, because the owner is black’). The date is a bit dull and the two would probably never have seen each other again if things had turned out differently later that night. If Slim hadn’t offered to take his date home, if that racist cop hadn’t pulled them over and humiliated them just because he could. If only criminal defense attorney Queen had just kept her mouth shut and stayed in the car, nothing would have happened…

But she does get out and continues to contradict the short-sighted cop, whereupon he takes his gun and shoots her in the leg. In the ensuing skirmish, Slim grabs the lying weapon and puts a bullet in the body of the officer in pure self-defense. Because as two young black people they don’t stand a chance if they turn themselves in, they decide to flee. And that is the beginning of this penetrating road movie, which is much more than meets the eye. Because the dashcam images of the shooting quickly go viral. For half of the American population, Queen & Slim have become dangerous criminals, who don’t shy away from drawing a gun, but the other (largely black) segment of Americans see them as heroes, martyrs and fighters against injustice. The officer in question had previously killed an innocent black boy and was notorious for his disgraceful ethnic profiling. They finally see in Queen and Slim someone who dares to stand up and fight back. Before the duo even realizes this, they have already had to overcome the necessary obstacles. Because when you’re on the run, you can’t trust anyone. But you are sometimes at the mercy of the good will and cooperation of others.

So full of doubts and insecurities Queen and Slim try to escape their inevitable fate, Melina Matsoukas handles the camera so confidently and purposefully. Impressive for a debutante, although as a director of cinematic video clips of, among others, Beyoncé and Rihanna, she has already given a calling card of what she has visually speaking. With flair and style, she leads us across the US, past bustling nighttime bars in New Orleans where the neon lights already allow you to blink and the melancholic blues blares from the speakers and you can almost smell the bourbon, to the endless cotton fields. of Alabama and Georgia where black people still line up like modern slaves as if time has stood still there for decades. But she also knows how to capture the emotion of her protagonists beautifully. Nota bene two Britons (!) star in this quintessentially American film, which incidentally was written by Lena Waithe (known for the comedy series ‘Master of None’, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award). Daniel Kaluuya scored highly with his starring role in the fantastic ‘Get Out’ (2017) – what’s called, he was even nominated for the Oscar for best actor – and once again captivates us with a mix of endearing clumsiness, integrity and vulnerability. The real discovery is Turner-Smith, who gives her character deep layers: under that highest layer of pride and self-confidence lies a lot of pain and sorrow.

It is also nice to see how, despite all the events, the two grow closer to each other in their shared feeling of despair, unrest and connection. Had fate decreed otherwise, they would have lost touch with each other after that one half-failed date and they would never have known that they secretly turned out to be each other’s real one after all. Matsoukas and Waithe make clever use of that twist of fate, our expectations and our immediate feelings of sympathy for the central duo. The road movie acts as the basis for a blossoming romance that holds up a mirror to the viewer to confront us with our literal and figurative tendency to think in black and white. There is plenty of humor in the dialogues, but there is also room for poetry and philosophy.

‘Queen & Slim’ is such a film that exposes political abuses, without turning it into a political film. Thanks to the strong script by Waith, the accurate direction by Matsoukas and the convincing and engaging acting of Kaluuya and Turner-Smith, this film has a powerful beating heart and the stories you get in the context of #BlackLivesMatter take on a face. With a shuddering ending that will leave you speechless. Making your feature film debut as a director in this way…. More from Matsoukas please!