‘Queen & Slim’ review – Bonnie and Clyde escapade runs out of ideas

Video: Carlos Muchave & Pfarelo Munonoka

Queen & Slim takes viewers on a fascinating journey in Bonnie-and-Clyde mould with a young African American couple on the run from the police after a murder.

What starts out as an exciting first date for retail worker Slim (Daniel Kaluuya of Get Out fame) and defence lawyer Queen (English newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith) ends in disaster. They had met through Tinder and were having a quiet dinner at an Ohio diner.

Queen is reserved and judgmental of Slim. He flirts outrageously with her, trying to work out why she agreed to go out with him. They are opposites and seem unlikely to reconnect again.

On their way home, Slim is stopped for a minor traffic infringement, a situation that explodes in their faces, ending with a dead cop lying in the snow. The lawman was arrogant, suspicious and white. Queen knew her rights as a lawyer but the situation turned nasty very quickly.

‘Queen & Slim’. Photo: Universal Pictures

Lena Waithe’s script is drawn from a world in which cops in America shoot first and ask questions later – more so when the driver happens to be black – and this trope is wearing rather thin.

However, the challenge presented here is who would believe cop killers, even if they were acting in self-defence?

Tension builds immediately after the incident but this facet is slowly eroded as the narrative begins to meander alarmingly as the two diverse characters go on the run.

Melina Mastoukas’ debut production is an uneven-paced yarn with racial undertones that are never fully exploited and a credibility factor that stretches the imagination the longer the narrative progresses.

Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya in ‘Queen & Slim’. Photo: Universal Pictures

Directed by the same person who made Beyoncé’s “Formation” music video, Queen and Slim is in need of a better crafted script – even though the two key players try desperately to extend themselves and work up some kind of chemistry.

There is a sense of outrage and injustice here. The police and some of the red-neck characters are depicted as total racists.

A top-heavy aspect of Mastoukas’ storytelling game plan is not only unclear, but a tad self-conscious in its execution. She sees an opportunity to turn these two fictional characters into vigilante heroes, perhaps martyrs, but instead of opting for a spirited and in-your-face scenario, she goes for something that’s more iconic.

The couple’s desperate road trip is punctuated with colourful pit-stops, allowing them to share their personal experiences and relieve their pent-up sexual desires.

Bokeem Woodbine in ‘Queen & Slim’. Photo: Universal Pictures

Queen visits a colourful uncle (Bokeem Woodbine), a gangster whose home is a brothel. He lends her money and a car, and dispatches them with his good wishes. But they will need need more than that to escape justice.

While Bonnie and Clyde enjoyed their adventure, Queen and Slim are too fretful of being caught and don’t know whom to trust.

Visually arresting this movie may be, but this too familiar outlaw-hero escapade runs out of ideas well before the end and we are left asking ourselves: what was that all about?

Info

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine
Director: Melina Mastoukas
Classification: 16 DLNPSV

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