Leave it to trailblazing, Emmy-winning writer Lena Waithe and visionary director Melina Matsoukas, to bring us a contemporary Bonnie and Clyde-like tale, in their unflinching new crime/drama movie, Queen & Slim.
We’re here for anything these two unapologetic talents put their hands to with successes including, for Waithe, an Emmy for an episode of Netflix’s Master of None and Matsoukas, making her directorial debut, who is behind some of the most powerful pop-culture experiences, including Beyoncé’s “Formation” and the Nike “Equality” campaign.
In a recent interview with Buzzfeed, Matsoukas said the film is a way of honouring: “Black people who have lost their lives to police brutality.” She also said, at its heart, it is a story about “black love”.
What’s the film about?
While on a forgettable first date together in Ohio, a Black man (Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya) and a Black woman (Jodie Turner-Smith, in her first starring feature-film role), are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. The situation escalates, with sudden and tragic results, when the man kills the police officer in self-defense. Terrified and in fear for their lives, the man, a retail employee, and the woman, a criminal defence lawyer, are forced to go on the run. But the incident is captured on video and goes viral, and the couple unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people across the country.
As they drive, these two unlikely fugitives will discover themselves and each other in the most dire and desperate of circumstances, and will forge a deep and powerful love that will reveal their shared humanity and shape the rest of their lives. Joining a legacy of films such as Bonnie and Clyde and Thelma & Louise, Queen & Slim is a powerful, consciousness-raising love story that confronts the staggering human toll of racism and the life-shattering price of violence.
Watch the trailer
The film is scheduled for release in the UK later this year.
