Hi everyone!
Welcome back to Matinee Monday. Today’s film is not for the faint of heart, nor for anyone who enjoys a feel good story. I actually left the theatre struggling with a lot of themes, which makes it a great film for conversation, but is that the same thing as a great film? I’ll let you know about that, and the double standards for films featuring black lives, in just a minute. However, for a few other films related to today’s film, check out our review for MOONLIGHT (Episode #406), which QUEEN & SLIM borrows heavily from thematically speaking, and THE HIGHWAYMEN (Episode #493), which looks at Bonnie & Clyde from law enforcement’s point of view.
Before the review, we’ll have a promo from the Ocho Duro Parlay Hour. Every episode, the ODPH Crew work their way through a diverse bunch of topics, everything from comics to movies to television to sports. You can find them on Twitter and Instagram @ODParlayHour and on Facebook @ochoduroparlayhour. Huge shoutout to the ODPH crew for all their support for One Movie Punch! Love watching them climb the Follow Friday boards!
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Here we go!
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Today’s movie is QUEEN AND SLIM, the poignant drama directed by Melina Matsoukas and written for the screen by Lena Waithe, based on a story by Waithe and James Frey. The film follows the first date of Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), which isn’t going well at all. On the way home, they’re pulled over by an officer who subjects them to harassment, which escalates quickly until Slim shoots the officer in self-defense. Now the two are on the run, seeking help wherever they can find it, including from each other.
No spoilers.
I’m a huge fan of the new black cinema. Barry Jenkins. Ava DuVernay. Justin Simien. Jordan Peele. Kasi Lemmons. Ryan Coogler. Steve McQueen. The latter half of this decade has seen a massive explosion in cinema from black filmmakers, featuring black actors, talking about black issues. This explosion deserves thanks in no small part to the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2015, which called out not just the lack of diversity in nominees and winners, but the largely white, male makeup of eligible voters within the Academy itself, and by extension, the lack of diversity in films that actually make it into production and on the screen in the first place. Unless you were Spike Lee or Tyler Perry or a handful of other prominent black filmmakers, your picture wasn’t getting picked up. It’s always why I’ve had a large distaste for the Oscars as a whole, because it’s mostly a bunch of white guys deciding what’s best. The Academy is taking steps to induct more members, and to increase representation, but that’s also going to require film producers (still largely white and male) to hire more black filmmakers at all levels, so there are members to be inducted.
The other reason for the explosion in black cinema is the rise of the streaming giants. In 2008, Barry Jenkins puts together a small picture called MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, which has critical praise, but only if you’re lucky to attend a film festival or take in a very limited theatrical release. However, as the nascent streaming giants were purchasing up rights, the film became available to a much larger audience, along with a massive back catalog of up and coming black filmmakers. Jenkins would return with MOONLIGHT (Episode #406) and what would be the follow up film, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (Episode #465). Edgier content, like Justin Simien’s DEAR WHITE PEOPLE would be discovered and re-discovered, and now more and more voices are reaching Hollywood. Which includes today’s team up of Martina Matsoukas and Lena Waithe. And which also begs the question, what’s James Frey doing here?
QUEEN & SLIM is not an easy film to watch. As I said at the top, I left the theatre feeling mostly frustrated on a number of levels, not just with the decisions of the characters, but with the decisions of writers Lena Waithe and James Frey for the larger story. The opening moments are excellent, setting mood and tone leading up to the encounter with the police officer, a self-described routine pullover that escalates quickly, and because of a number of terrible decisions by all characters. It’s necessarily complicated for thematic purposes, since this incident and the discussion it sparks among the characters and on media broadcasts, follows Queen and Slim on their attempt to flee the country.
It’s also just one of way too many issues and perspectives of the black experience, particularly with law enforcement, to fit into a single film. When Queen and Slim aren’t dealing with immediate dangers or survival tasks, they’re continuing to get to know each other, touching on so many themes just as quickly as letting them go, verbally sparring with each other through the use of familiar aphorisms. It is great for sparking conversation, but it makes for a cluttered viewing experience. I ended up wishing the themes were subtler so we could focus more on their developing relationship. In particular, there’s a portion of the film involving the protest scene as seen in the trailer, which not only features another character making bad choices, but also splices with another scene that makes for a confusing experience, thematically speaking.
It may not be an easy film to watch, but it is a beautiful film to watch and hear. Costumes, colors, and cars all blend really well together with every scene, from the white Accord at the beginning, all the way to the purple land yacht towards the end. While the dialogue can be stilted and the themes frustrating, everything looks great while it happens, well-composed on screen and with excellent song selections along with some light transitional scoring. Nearly every shot is perfectly framed, with many shots reminding me of Jenkins’ particular style, especially intentionally mismatching dialogue and when taking in the many vistas of the Southern United States. It’s a beautiful tragedy of a story.
Oh yeah, back to frustrating decisions. The film’s ending is going to be really difficult for folks to take, even as we know what the realistic outcome of this situation would be in real life. The journey is so beautiful that we don’t want it to end, but it does, and abruptly at that, with a lot of loose ends. I think what I would prefer is a longer form version of the same story, maybe a one-season limited series, so we could take our time and explore not just Queen and Slim a little longer in each destination in the Southern United States, but also the effects of that initial incident across the nation. Queen and Slim, and everyone else for that matter, could have longer, more natural conversations about each topic, and maybe interact with their supporters more. I would gobble that series up in a heartbeat.
QUEEN AND SLIM is a cluttered, frustrating, depressing, but beautiful film about two folks on the run after defending themselves against a racist police officer. Much like Queen and Slim themselves, the audience rarely gets a chance to catch their breath, as Matsoukas, Waithe, and Frey run us through the garden of issues surrounding people of color and law enforcement, before bringing us to an abrupt, inevitable end. Fans of films involving a good chase, or a modern day tour of the Southern United States, should definitely check out this film.
Rotten Tomatoes: 82% (CERTIFIED FRESH)
Metacritic: 74
One Movie Punch: 7.2/10
QUEEN AND SLIM (2019) is rated R and is currently playing in theaters.
