Queen & Slim is a 2019 drama film produced & directed by Melina Matsoukas (Insecure & Master of None). It was written & produced by Lena Waithe (Boomerang, The Chi, & Bones). It was produced by Brad Weston (Super Mario Bros, Scary Movie 2/3, Bad Santa, & Cursed), Jason Cloth (The Addams Family, The Mule, Joker, & Child’s Play), & Guymon Casady (The Expendables franchise, Game of Thrones, The Terror, & The Gallows 1/2). It premiered at the AFI Fest. It had an estimated budget of $20 million & it grossed $46.6 million worldwide at the box office!!!! A criminal defense attorney Angela “Queen” Johnson (played by: Jodie Turner-Smith from Nightflyers, The Last Ship, The Neon Demon, & True Blood) has an awkward dinner with her Tinder date Ernest “Slim” Hines (played by: Daniel Kaluuya from Get Out, Black Panther, Kick-Ass 2, & Sicario) in an Ohio diner. Slim drives Queen home afterwards; his supposedly erratic driving attracts the attention of a police officer (played by: Sturgill Simpson from The Dead Don’t Die & The Hunt) who pulls the two over & makes Slim step out of the car after not complying with his orders. The aggressive officer draws his gun on Slim & when Queen gets out while trying to record the incident on her phone she gets shot by the hard headed cop. Slim tackles the officer before grabbing his gun & shoots him in self defense. Queen tells Slim that they either have to go on the run or will spend the rest of their lives in prison. When they run out of gas, the pair flags down a pickup truck for help. The driver, Edgar (played by: Benito Martinez from The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, & House of Cards) turns out to be a local sheriff in Kentucky.
At the gas station, Edgar gets a notice on his radio about the Ohio officer’s death & identifies the couple as the suspects. They hold Edgar at gunpoint & steal his truck. Queen & Slim travel to New Orleans to go to the house of her estranged Uncle Earl (played by: Bokeem Woodbine from Dead Presidents, Fargo, Spider-Man: Homecoming, & Wishmaster 2) for help. Earl hesitates at first, Queen convinces him to aid them since she helped him avoid jail for killing her mother. Slim proposes that they escape to Cuba & Earl tells them that when he was serving in Iraq that he saved the life of a Mr. Shepherd (played by: Flea from Psycho, Back to the Future II/III, The Big Lebowski, & Dudes) who would be able to help them get there from Miami with his wife (played by: Chloë Sevigny from Kids, American Psycho, Boys Don’t Cry, & Big Love). Queen & Slim take one of Earl’s cars & head towards Florida. As they continue their drive in the morning, the car breaks down. They take it to a black mechanic (played by: Gralen Bryant Banks from Treme) whose teenage son Junior (played by: Jahi Di’Allo Winston from The Dead Don’t Die & Proud Mary) expresses his admiration for them. They have now become widely recognizable & a symbol for the community. The two strangers start falling each other during this crazy journey. At a protest in support of Queen & Slim, Junior kills an officer after a confrontation. Queen & Slim go to the home of the Shepherds. A SWAT team shows up outside soon after so they are forced to hide inside. They take a spare car & go to the plane’s location to finally escape. The police are on their trail & they want justice for their crime. Can this couple survive this manhunt & get out of the country before it’s too late????
Queen & Slim is a great example of wrong place at the wrong time. These two strangers go through hell & end up falling in love because of it. This urban Bonnie & Clyde add a unique twist to the romantic sub-genre with some crime added to the mix. Music video director Melina Matsoukas makes her directorial debut here & it’s a great one. The script was very impressive & it had a nice build up to it. Plenty of interesting characters in this that believe in this couple who stood up for themselves. Daniel Kaluuya & Jodie Turner-Smith have great chemistry in this. You feel them falling in love as time goes on here. These two lead performances really elevated the entire production. The supporting cast is great in this, lots of familiar faces which includes Bokeem Woodbine, Flea, Chloë Sevigny, & Benito Martinez. This one has a little bit of everything in it & I think most people would enjoy it for the very reason. It’s very fun & entertaining, you are always waiting to see what happens next with this. Not a bad performance in here at all, all the roles felt 100% real. This was definitely better than expected, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation & special features from Universal! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks stunning, I can only imagine what the 4K looks like. This is basically a road movie so it covers all kinds of different locations & states in this. The cinematography really stands out in Queen & Slim. It has a variety of audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, & Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 on the disc. It sounds great in the home set up especially the music. The score & soundtrack have a nice boost to it. The dialogue is very clean & the action is elevated when it happens here. It has English SDH & Spanish subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Melina Matsoukas & writer Lena Waithe. “A Deeper Meaning” is almost 6 minutes. It has interviews with director Melina Matsoukas, writer Lena Waithe, actors Daniel Kaluuya & Jodie Turner-Smith. They chat about the story, concept, characters, & their experience on the production. They talk about the changes that the lead roles go through on their journey. “Melina & Lena” is almost 5 minutes. It has interviews with with director Melina Matsoukas & writer Lena Waithe.. They chat about their working relationship on this. They talk about putting the film together & what it means to the community. They show their appreciation for each other. It has behind the scenes footage. “Off The Script” is a little over 3 minutes. Writer Lena Waithe reads a scene from the original script. “On The Run With Queen & Slim” is a little over 4 minutes. It has interviews with director Melina Matsoukas, writer Lena Waithe, actors Daniel Kaluuya & Jodie Turner-Smith. It goes over the various states & locations for the film. They chat about how their mood changes as the weather does. They talk about the difficult conditions that they shot in. It has a variety of behind the scenes footage in it. It has a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It was also released on DVD & 4K. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
