Synopsis – A couple’s first date takes an unexpected turn when a police officer pulls them over.

My Take – Every year sees the release of at least dozen road trip films, who in the end struggle to differentiate themselves from each other, and manage to stand out only if they are covering a novice territory, like this film, a blazing new drama that is politically-charged as well as highly entertaining. As it takes well-known elements from different sources and creates an interesting compound, adding its own surprising limits to pace and tension.

While we’ve seen narratives like this before, were the black community become persecuted and then a few individuals rise up to halt said persecution. The difference with this film is that as we follow the journey of the two characters, they are kept in the dark (mostly) of the reaction their actions have caused.

Yes, it’s not perfect, but it is still simply a very well-crafted film featuring an outstanding breakthrough debut of music video director Melina Matsoukas, who brings her considerable talents to the big screen with this crime drama, fitted out like a ‘Bonnie and Clyde‘ adventure but driven by the engine of contemporary racial politics. And along with the Lena Waithe‘s superb writing and the support of excellent performers like Daniel Kaluuya and debutante Jodie Turner-Smith, you have an engrossing, urgent, beautiful and socially conscious trip through the American racial psyche.

Opening in a late-night diner, the story follows Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith), a prickly defense lawyer and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), an easygoing Costco employee, who are awkwardly navigating a first date via Tinder, brought about by Queen’s desire not be alone as one of her clients was executed the same day.

While they quickly determine that they have nothing in common, with a second date out of the question, their lives quickly take a turn. On the drive home, a bullying white policeman stops Slim for a misdemeanor but the officer’s blatant racism means the situation quickly escalates and he shoots Queen in the leg. In the ensuing scuffle between Slim, fighting for his life, the cop ends up dead in the snow and leaving the two in shock.

Where Slim is determined to turn himself in before things get even worse, the cool-headed Queen, knowing the system all too well, pushes him to flee. Traveling from Ohio to Florida in hopes of making it to Cuba. The film then snaps into a leisurely, music-assisted road trip across the Southern states, with folks along the way either helping or hindering their journey.

Perhaps most memorable is Earl (Bokeem Woodbine), Queen’s PTSD afflicted uncle, who owes Queen because she did him an unthinkable favor in the past. Most of the African-Americans they meet are sympathetic to their plight, with many comparing them to a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde.

Without spelling everything out for you, this film holds you on the edge of your seat until the end, even if you get a feeling of where it’s going, the proceedings keep you invested. As Lena Waithe’s script is tense and electric, doling out momentary terrors at a steady and unending pace, but where it truly shines is in the deliberate spaces she makes for tenderness and intimacy. Unlike what many would think, this is not a caper, as the film’s real power is undoing its protagonists’ imagined heroism to show us their real and immediate victimhood.

As police officers continue to racially profile young African Americans in roadside stops and conduct useless searches. Here too, Slim cooperates with the officer and does everything he says, but the demands and endless abuse never cease, resulting in action. Despite the political stand they end up making for them it is simply a matter of human survival that drives the two protagonists. It is humanity, made profane by the gross political discourses that underpins a civil order that legitimizes murder and transforms its victims into perpetrators.

What also makes this one more than just a road film is the subtle and yet devastating way in which these would-be lovers are seen by those they come across. But director Matsoukas doesn’t use the real events to merely manipulate your senses. This film doesn’t preach down or try to twist your head around. It’s a love story with real-life fabric sewn in for the sake of informing people of what is happening around the world.

Much of the film features the couple driving through America, and director Matsoukas chooses to film most of this from the outside of the car, many of the shots are of Queen or Slim looking out through the window. Seeing the characters through a pane of glass is reminiscent of a museum or picture frame, again playing on this idea of legacy. Queen and Slim are being immortalized, both through the media sensationalizing their journey across the country in the film.

Yet, at its heart, this is simply a beautifully rendered story about a love that blooms in hardship, in direct defiance of the forces that threaten it. Queen and Slim grow to know and love each other over the course of their deadly, six-day first date. The trauma they endure together binds them, yes, but they begin first as testy and reluctant co-conspirators, then friends, then lovers. Their interrupted story is but one of many that are cleaved apart by state violence every day, their violent end is the only possible response from a nation that always saw them as illegitimate citizens, to begin with. Their demise is fated, not earned.

Which leads to the film’s biggest flaw. The film falters when scenes that push a message come off as off-puttingly garish. Here, Lena Waithe attempts to weave social commentary throughout the narrative, playing on imagery familiar to the viewers from media coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement. But, most of it is quite clumsy, trying to be provocative but too self-conscious to offer up any new or interesting ideas.

One sequence in particular, a protest-turned-riot in support of Queen and Slim which is inter cut with them having sex for the first time, is comedic in how completely it fumbles the theme Waithe sets up. The juxtaposition has superficial aesthetic value, but it makes no lucid socio-political argument.

Performance wise, Daniel Kaluuya once again proves he is a big-time talent with versatility, here too, he embodies an unbridled charm and youthful naivety. In her first role, Jodie Turner-Smith brings out a breakout performance. Right off the jump, in that diner scene, she gives Queen a full-scale personality that helps later scenes fall into place easier. This is an actor taking the words off the page and making them her own, from Queen’s reluctance to fall for Slim and using her attorney mind to figure out problems.

In supporting turns, Bokeem Woodbine brings in his assured turn, while Indya Moore, Chloë Sevigny and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea pitch in fine performances. On the whole, ‘Queen & Slim’ is a compelling and thrilling romantic ride with a slightly flawed yet nuanced social commentary.

Directed – Melina Matsoukas

Starring – Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine

Rated – R

Run Time – 132 minutes