QUEEN & SLIM
Melina Matsoukas (2019)
3.5 STARS
The fragility of our fleeting existence in this world is an existential issue that many of us have pondered. Most of us, however, have not done so while fleeing the police across the U.S.A. Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith produce outstanding performances that are well supported by the beautifully dark cinematography and haunting piano score. The issue, preventing this film from reaching dizzying heights, is that it loses itself around the mid-way point. At the exact moment that we should shift up a gear, the characters are literally told that they are ‘safe here’, slowing the film and throwing the following hour completely off-kilter. This is truly a shame because the final sequence is shocking, depressing and uplifting all at once. The tale of the ‘Black Bonnie and Clyde’ is unfathomably relevant to the current social and political climate in the U.S. and beyond, the wobble in the middle is a crying shame.