‘Thank you for this journey, no matter how it ends...’
Everyone likes a road movie. Thelma and Louise. Bonnie and Clyde. Me and Debbie Pinson. All the big ones. Partly this is because it gives us a chance to take in some beautiful scenery and partly just because it’s like… all about the journey, not just the destination, you guys! Queen and Slim continues this noble tradition and throws in some race politics for good measure…
Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) and Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith), a young black couple, get more than they bargained for when driving home from their first date following an encounter with a racist cop (Sturgill Simpson).
I genuinely try to avoid politics where possible – I watch films to get away from all of that shit rather than to wallow in it – and this review will be no different. Director Melina Matsoukas has a lot to say about race relations, and while Queen and Slim was a little on the nose for my tastes, there is no denying that as a racial fable, this movie has power. Happily, and more importantly from the point of view of this review, Matsoukas’ film is also entertaining and with an emotional wallop to boot. Turner-Smith and particularly Kaluuya do a fine job in humanising a story that does become less believable as the movie lurches into its third act and the eclectic supporting cast (Chloe Sevigny? Flea??) provide an interesting backdrop to what is a derivative plot.
Flaws aside, Queen and Slim never outstays its welcome, even at over two hours, and it offers further proof that Daniel Kaluuya has the world at his feet.