Queen & Slim
Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith kill a cop in self-defence while on their first date in music video director Melina Matsoukas's feature debut. Rather than turn themselves in, the couple decides to go on the run.
- Director:
- Melina Matsoukas (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Lena Waithe
- Cast:
- Daniel KaluuyaJodie Turner-SmithChloë SevignyBokeem WoodbineSturgill SimpsonThom Gossom Jr.Bryant Tardy
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Amanda Jane Robinson
flicksStyle triumphs over substance in this ambitious, messy film about Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), who find themselves on the run after an average first date ends in their self-defence killing of a white cop. It’s an inherently dramatic conceit that, done well, could have been a contemporary classic.
Stuff
pressA leaner, tighter and terser draft of the script would have been appreciated – and would have led to an even better film. But Queen and Slim is still an accomplished debut, with two excellent performances at its heart, and well worth finding on a big screen.
New Zealand Herald
pressIt's a classic case of style over substance. Shame, because the Queen & Slim film does have a noble message, but it gets overexposed by Waithe's overwrought dialogue. What's more, Matsoukas shows her lack of feature-length experience, one that hasn't yet captured the focussed subtlety of contemporaries such as Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk).
Sydney Morning Herald
pressIn the end, the trip becomes both exploration and interrogation. All sides of the argument are canvassed and although no conclusion is reached beyond the basic one – that violence is always futile – they shape the narrative into a thoroughly moral tale told with great flair.
Time Out
pressInvesting their roles with a somber thoughtfulness, the leads do exquisite work, even when the situation pushes them toward bad decisions or stereotypes.
The New York Times
pressThis movie feels like something new, and also as if it's been around forever, waiting for its moment.
The Guardian
pressIt's tempting to fall for, thanks to impeccable work from Matsoukas and Kaluuya, but by the end, for a film so focused on love, I wanted to feel a bit more of it.
Empire Magazine
pressQueen & Slim tackles urgent, difficult subjects with bravery, care and adrenalised genre cool. But it triumphs because it shows you the personal toll beyond the politics. And how black lives brimming with potential can still turn on one fateful moment.
Hollywood Reporter
pressIt's a road movie that's timely - the plot reverberates with recent news stories, heartrending and enraging - but also untethered from headlines or the calendar, unfolding in a dreamscape defined by love and community, empowerment and the art of survival.
Variety
press[Matsoukas] sees an opportunity to turn these two fictional characters into vigilante heroes, or martyrs for a cause, or both, and rather than play it frisky and in-your-face, she goes for iconic.
Flicks, Amanda Jane Robinson
flicksStyle triumphs over substance in this ambitious, messy film about Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), who find themselves on the run after an average first date ends in their self-defence killing of a white cop. It’s an inherently dramatic conceit that, done well, could have been a contemporary classic.
Stuff
pressA leaner, tighter and terser draft of the script would have been appreciated – and would have led to an even better film. But Queen and Slim is still an accomplished debut, with two excellent performances at its heart, and well worth finding on a big screen.
New Zealand Herald
pressIt's a classic case of style over substance. Shame, because the Queen & Slim film does have a noble message, but it gets overexposed by Waithe's overwrought dialogue. What's more, Matsoukas shows her lack of feature-length experience, one that hasn't yet captured the focussed subtlety of contemporaries such as Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk).
Sydney Morning Herald
pressIn the end, the trip becomes both exploration and interrogation. All sides of the argument are canvassed and although no conclusion is reached beyond the basic one – that violence is always futile – they shape the narrative into a thoroughly moral tale told with great flair.
Time Out
pressInvesting their roles with a somber thoughtfulness, the leads do exquisite work, even when the situation pushes them toward bad decisions or stereotypes.
The New York Times
pressThis movie feels like something new, and also as if it's been around forever, waiting for its moment.
The Guardian
pressIt's tempting to fall for, thanks to impeccable work from Matsoukas and Kaluuya, but by the end, for a film so focused on love, I wanted to feel a bit more of it.
Empire Magazine
pressQueen & Slim tackles urgent, difficult subjects with bravery, care and adrenalised genre cool. But it triumphs because it shows you the personal toll beyond the politics. And how black lives brimming with potential can still turn on one fateful moment.
Hollywood Reporter
pressIt's a road movie that's timely - the plot reverberates with recent news stories, heartrending and enraging - but also untethered from headlines or the calendar, unfolding in a dreamscape defined by love and community, empowerment and the art of survival.
Variety
press[Matsoukas] sees an opportunity to turn these two fictional characters into vigilante heroes, or martyrs for a cause, or both, and rather than play it frisky and in-your-face, she goes for iconic.
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