The way things are going, there doesn’t seem to be much chance of these two ever having a second date. a white police officer who pulls the two over and makes “Slim” step out of the or unsympathetic support to their plight. They then decided that wasn’t the way to go and created the ending where the friend arrives. At least Bonnie and Clyde were permitted to enjoy the ride, whereas Queen and Slim know they’re being tracked and aren’t sure whom to trust. What momentum the film has comes not from the pursuit (the police seem far off-screen till the climactic confrontation) but from the tight percussive beats of Dev Hynes’ score. They really don’t care who portrays him.”, The One Word Almost Every Comedian Says in Their Netflix Special. Its two characters — played by British actors Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, who remain unnamed until a news story at the end of the film — are on an exceedingly awkward Tinder date. Bokeem Woodbine has a transfixing turn as her uncle, Earl, with whom she has a complicated relationship. Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine (FX Fargo 2), Chloë Sevigny (HBO’s Big of the Great Depression. After the initial shooting, the pair are instantly notorious, their faces splashed on TV screens and the next day’s front page. But a film intent on exploring the layers of black love and black resistance in a world such as this can’t live on beauty alone. I enjoyed the ride, for sure, but it told me it was taking me somewhere, just to drop me off back home. Now there’s one less racist cop in the world, and Queen and Slim are about to become what the script calls “the black Bonnie and Clyde.”. Again, the humor is a great way to keep your mind off the darkness that hangs over the movie and wondering what is going to happen to Queen and Slim. A leaner, tighter and terser draft of the script would have been appreciated – and would have led to an even better film. But Queen & Slim does a disservice to both the themes of love and anger by never giving the latter the depth it deserves, leaving the film a beautiful object to behold but a hollow narrative to consider. This is what will appear next to your ratings and reviews. These are things we already know when we walk into the theater. Nickelodeon holiday gift-guide: From SpongeBob SquarePants to PAW Patrol! With updated release dates where available. There are the makings of a truly good film in Queen & Slim, one that handles its themes of resistance and joy with as much care and entanglement as its gorgeous stylings. Melina Matsoukas is great at capturing a moment and there is a lot of beauty in this film. The ecstatic beauty that Melina Matsoukas, an acclaimed music-video director in her first feature-length film, and cinematographer Tat Radcliffe bring to the film underscores the question. “Queen & Slim” offers a different perspective. “Slim” reflexively tackles the officer grabbing his gun shooting him in From its visual virtuosity to its beguiling score by Devonté Hynes, this is a film bursting with style. The colorful shotgun homes of New Orleans. had those types of conversations with each other – with others along the way that they met, particularly Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Several Doubtful, although the approach ought to resonate with audiences today, presenting the already smoldering discussion of police brutality with a what-if scenario in which the oppressed stand up to authority. Queen & Slim is a character-driven chase film that manages to also touch upon powerful social themes, taking a mythic story and making it personal, relevant, and, in a new manner, timeless. officer rifles through his trunk, “Slim” asks him if he could "hurry For It’s an inherently dramatic conceit that, done well, could have been a contemporary classic. Sharing story credit with novelist James Frey, “The Chi” creator Lena Waithe has written what seems like a snappy, high-attitude script, in which “Touché” becomes a frequent, flirtatious refrain as the title pair bicker.