Cianna Hope Reeves
Editor-in-Chief
It’s raw. It’s heated. It’s sexy. It’s powerful. It’s Queen & Slim.
If you’re wanting to fall in love by the end of the movie—well, you might stay tuned because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
Written by Lena Waithe, creator of the drama series “The Chi”, and directed by Melina Matsoukas, “Queen & Slim”is a romantic thriller that demonstrates “ride or die” love and exposes racial injustices amongst law enforcement from the perspective of two black individuals.
In this powerful film, many issues encountered in minority communities are given a platform to show viewers the everyday struggles just by being a person of color—specifically Black in America.
Queen enacted by Jodie Turner-Smith, is a criminal defense lawyer, and Slim, “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya, is a retail worker who are on the run after a date night took a tragic turn for the worse.
As the couple were leaving an Ohio diner in the middle of town, they were shocked to find themselves pulled over for a minor traffic stop violation.
The white cop asked Slim to step out of his vehicle, forces him to open his trunk, and whips out his gun after pushing Slim to the ground. Not comfortable about the officer’s attitude, Queen questions the officer’s defiant actions.
What happens next is where Matsoukas and Waithe creates a plot twist that will become the fuel and the foundation of their attempt to live on-the-run embodying a Bonnie-&-Clyde-style love affair.
Worried about his life as he’s being arrested for doing nothing wrong, Slim ends up killing the police officer out of self-defense after skirmishing on the ground.
Meanwhile, when a video of the incident goes viral, Queen and Slim become symbols for the terror, grief, and trauma of the victims and loved ones of racially motivated police violence.
In a joint agreement, Queen and Slim decided it was best to flee the scene and escape the city.
On this adventure, the two would create an intense bond and would become a force that inspire others to evoke change in their own communities.
Realizing they are limited to where they can run away, Queen becomes the leader in their grand escape and guides them to her uncle’s home where they lay low as media reports come in.
Uncle Earl, who has his own history with the law, suffers from a shrill, helps the two outlaws survive on the run while providing them a masterplan.
Forced to cooperate and to commit additional crimes, Queen and Slim begin to wear their heart on their sleeves knowing that their life may not end in a fairytale after all.
As the time comes when authorities close in on them and while being labeled murderers in newspapers and television broadcasts, they are soon left to face reality.
In the final moments of boarding on an aircraft to flee the country, Queen and Slim are met with law enforcement standing with their guns on the airport’s runway, noting that this was the end of their getaway.
They shared their last words and in a blink of an eye, shots were fired killing Queen and Slim.
Their bodies laid there—restless—but their marathon inspired many.
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