The film opens in a diner in Cleveland, Ohio. A lawyer, “Queen” (Jodie Turner-Smith), has dinner with her Tinder date, “Slim” (Daniel Kaluuya) only because she didn’t feel like being alone that night. Slim is laid back while Queen is more cynical. She tells him that her client was sentenced to death, which she doesn’t consider fair. Slim asks her why she picked him as a date, and Queen says it’s because she liked his picture, which she found “sad.”
Slim drives Queen home, trying to extend the evening. He swerves while driving, which attracts the attention of a racist policeman named Officer Reed (Sturgill Simpson). He pulls the two over and makes Slim step out of the car. Reed starts searching the car, which prompts Queen to ask why. Reed grows more and more agitated until Slim asks him to hurry up because it’s cold. Reed draws his gun on Slim as he tries to arrest him. Queen gets out and tries to record the incident on her phone, and Reed shoots at her, grazing her leg. Slim tackles Reed and is almost beaten until Slim grabs the gun and shoots Reed dead. Both in a state of shock, Queen tells Slim they need to flee immediately.
The two go on the run and ditch their phones. They stop to ditch their car and flag down a pickup truck. The driver, Edgar (Benito Martinez), offers to help the two when Queen says they need to get gas. On the way, Slim notices Edgar is a sheriff. At the gas station, Edgar gets a notice on his radio about Reed’s death and an identification on the suspects. He knows they are sitting in his car. As Queen and Slim realize this, they force him at gunpoint to go with them. They drive back to the car and lock Edgar in the trunk despite his insistence that he will help them. Queen doesn’t trust him since he knows he will alert the other cops.
Queen and Slim take Edgar’s truck and stop to get food. They get a young boy to buy their food with money from Edgar’s glove compartment. After they eat, the boy comes back with a video from Reed’s dash-cam that has now gone viral, showing the two of them clearly in the act. Slim starts to drive away but accidentally hits the boy’s father. He just hurt his knee so the two drive him and the boy to the hospital. The father praises Queen and Slim for what they have done, thinking of it as a revenge killing since Reed was reported to have shot and killed an unarmed black man years earlier. The father wishes them luck after they are dropped off.
Queen & Slim is a 2019 American romantic crime drama film directed by Melina Matsoukas (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Lena Waithe, from a story by James Frey and Waithe. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloë Sevigny, Flea, Sturgill Simpson and Indya Moore. The plot follows two African-Americans who go on the run after killing a police officer in self defense during a traffic stop.
Queen & Slim had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 14, 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on November 27, 2019, by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $47 million.
Queen and Slim (2019)
Directed by: Melina Matsoukas
Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Daniel Kaluuya, Indya Moore, Benito Martinez, Bokeem Woodbine, Jodie Turner-Smith, Kenneth Kynt Bryan, Sturgill Simpson, Dominic Cancelliere, Colby Boothman
Screenplay by: Lena Waithe
Production Design by: Karen Murphy
Cinematography by: Tat Radcliffe
Film Editing by: Pete Beaudreau
Costume Design by: Shiona Turini
Set Decoration by: Ryan Watson
Art Direction by: Spencer Davison, Jeremy Woolsey
MPAA Rating: R for violence, some strong sexuality, nudity, pervasive language, and brief drug use.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: November 27, 2019
Visits: 28
