The challenges that racism presents to black life are manifold and well know to all who wish to acknowledge them. Whether it’s with employment, housing, or even going about daily life, reasonable people know that racism can present impediments to all minorities it touches. What many may not realize is the toll it can take on the psyche of many when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Black parents can worry about how to raise their children in environments that hate them and some black childless adults debate the appropriateness of bringing children into such a hateful world at all. And black singles, black women in particular, are left to worry about the safety of the person they love after sending them outside where at any moment they can come into contact with a person that means them harm. Recent release Queen & Slim finds two people on a first date that takes a startling and tragic turn when a traffic stop involving an aggressive Cleveland police officer results in Slim taking the officer’s gun and shooting him in Queen’s defense after the officer attempts to shoot her. Now on the run, Queen and Slim try to escape the country while video of the incident goes viral and the country splits between seeing the couple as a symbol of hope and resistance or as murderers evading justice.
Queen & Slim contains a lot of the same elements from many love on the run films throughout cinematic history, but differs in one important respect through exploring a love story through the lens of the challenges faced by black people in the United States. The couple is forced to get to know each other and develop their connection amidst some challenging circumstances, yet still their love lives on and persists. Love can be an arduous experience even in the most mundane environment so the willingness to open yourself up to someone in a world where they can potentially be taken from you in an instant at the whim of the state or its agents can feel revolutionary. This tale of love thriving under the impossible feels like a grand statement from director Melina Matsoukas and screenwriter Lena Waithe on how black love remains viable through even the most trying times.
Queen & Slim’s plot allows for expertly executed character development for its main characters. When we first meet Angela, the criminal defense attorney sports a dour and highly aggressive demeanor, unwilling to open up or create meaningful connection with anyone and coming across as generally unpleasant. To put it plainly, the character is basically unlikable. But as Queen and Slim go on the run cross country and receive help from various figures from Queen’s life, we learn more about her background and what has made her so walled off from the rest of the world. Queen’s time spent with Slim also works to soften her and turn aspects of his personality and belief set that once repulsed her, into attitudes that she slowly begins to adopt herself, most strikingly opening herself up to pray before a meal despite a belief in atheism.
Queen & Slim manages to create a dynamic between its lead characters that is believable in how restrained and methodical their falling in love plays out onscreen and allows for the audience to become invested in the outcome of their story. Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith are convincing in their portrayals of young people thrust suddenly into an impossible situation and forced to think on the fly while navigating being entangled with someone they barely know or even like. Bokeem Woodbine continues his reputation for scene-stealing as a supporting actor, bringing both levity as Queen’s Iraq War veteran uncle Earl and providing some needed backstory for Queen as well as contributing to her development as a character. At times, the film does feel as if it’s attempting to fit a lot into its story, such as a protest subplot for a supporting character Queen and Slim meet along the way or a bizarre encounter that Slim has with a gas station attendant he attempts to hold up that made little since narratively or logically, but the sum of its parts outweigh the negatives, with director Melina Matsoukas providing strong visuals to accompany the quality performances she summons from her actors. The film has been the subject of much debate on Twitter and the reality of its quality lies somewhere in-between the absolute panning it has received from some and the lauding of its importance and power from others. In the end, Queen & Slim is simply a decent time at the movies. As most films are.
Image: Universal Pictures
