QUEEN & SLIM

Director Melina Matsoukas and writer Lena Waithe strut their inventive filmic style in “Queen and Slim”; reminiscent of “Bonnie and Clyde”, a couple on the lam after an untoward incident triggered by the inadvertent death of a police officer; there are more differences than similarities between the two films; whereas Bonnie and Clyde were deliberate outlaws, savoring and initiating their malfeasance, Queen (sculptural Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (unstoppable talent, Daniel Kaluuya) are victims of circumstance; an African American couple on a first date, goes horrifically awry, when they are stopped by a lone white policeman on a dark, freezing Cincinnati street; the encounter careens shockingly out of control; Queen/”Angela Johnson” is an attorney who convinces Slim/”Ernest Hinds” that their only option is to flee the country; their mission to survive is fraught with cultural, racial divisions, infused with wonderful, at times humorous “grey” areas, no one or thing is purity personified; herein lies the mettle of this profoundly interesting movie.

“Queen & Slim” harbor elements of greatness, but slips into predictability that squelches distinctiveness, leaving viewers vaguely unsettled, chagrined with its conclusion.

THREE STARS!!!

Peneflix