QUEEN AND SLIM : MOVIE REVIEW
Denton — “Queen and Slim” paralleled life in its sincerest form in many situations from the very beginning. Parallels of millennial culture, African American relationship culture, the culture of being black in America. It then addressed the stereotype of the strong black woman.
The volatility of online/app dating found Angela Johnson (Queen) played by Jodie Turner-Smith, a defense attorney on a mediocre date at a subpar diner with Ernest Hines (Slim) played by Daniel Kaluuya.
Shortly after they finish their meals, they encounter an unethical police officer, and the shooting takes place. This is essentially where the movie begins. To protect their lives, Angela insists that they leave the dying police officer. Angela, a defense attorney, views living on the run as a better option than facing the American judicial system.
Initially, they struggle to find direction, knowing they need to leave but feeling like they have nowhere to go. Ernest desires to seek out his family to say goodbye, Queen feels they can’t afford it and gets rid of their phones.
Queen reluctantly decides that they will go to her uncle’s house in New Orleans. An odd turn of events, up until that point, she had eluded to not having any family or preferring to be alone. Uncle Earl, played by Bokeem Woodbine, hid them, fed them, and gave them a few contacts. The path they took was reminiscent of the underground railroad that was intended to help them escape consisted of friends of uncle earl’s and friends of friends.
They traveled to the first stop, the home of Mr. Shepherd, a friend of uncle Earl’s. A neighbor recognizes them and calls the police, a SWAT team arrives as they’re sitting down for dinner. They hide in the crawl space under Mr. Shepherd’s bed and spend the night in the crawl space listening to police ransack the home searching for them. They jumped out of a window to escape the next morning.
Mr. shepherd gave them the address to the next stop in Florida, which ended up being a random location in the middle of nowhere. The road was empty of people, no houses around for miles. The situation seemed grim. They were awoken by the 3rd contact who was the only black person in the group and the same person that ended up giving them up for the reward money.
The previews for the movie left me looking for something reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde, militant and action-packed. According to the writer (Lena Waithe), this film is a romance that attempted to “humanize” black people. A story we didn’t know we needed, in my opinion.
I liked a lot of things about this movie. The explanation of why the home is a sanctuary for black men was spot on. I enjoyed them sharing the desires each of them had for a partner and a relationship. This scene was a polar opposite to the indifference that millennial dating culture is shrouded in.
I also, on a personal level, disliked many things about this movie. I was troubled by junior shooting the police officer for a couple reasons. It was an unnecessary part of this movie; it didn’t add anything. I was dismayed that Junior shot a black police officer, even more. It didn’t fit the narrative. This scene created a false description that black youth have an issue with all police regardless of disposition, race, or encounter. That isn’t the case.
I was disappointed in the fact that there was an overt depiction of all the help for black people needing to come from nonblack people. The idea that the person who eventually gave them up was black was triggering as well. I think that the deceptive nature he engaged in creates an atmosphere of distrust amongst black people.
If I had to give this movie a rating based on a star system, 3.5–5 stars would be where I landed on this one. Good and even fantastic in some places but also very disappointing in others.
