Queen & Slim (2019)

From the first scene of Queen & Slim there is a sadness running through the film which permeates every moment. We see a couple on a date that isn't going well. There is a loneliness, a disconnect, which is recognizable. And as the film progresses through what feels fairly inevitable to anyone paying attention to life in America in the 21st century, that sadness grows as there is more and more loss. But the beauty of Queen & Slim is how in all that sadness, there are moments when we find pure joy, where connection is made and refound. That even in this America there is a possibility of happiness, maybe fleeting, maybe ephemeral, but real none the less.

"Are you happy?" one character asks another. "Sometimes" is the simple yet brutally honest answer.

Screenwriter Lena Waithe keeps her dialogue gorgeously simple. She doesn't have her characters give loquacious oratories filled with colourful clever dialogue. Her characters here speak with a concise and poetic straightforwardness which gives them a chance to express much with their faces, their eyes. There are moments the film has the characters speak without moving their lips, as if we are hearing their thoughts or echoes of something they said. So much more is said visually but when they do speak, what they say is powerful.

"What do you want?" we hear Kaluuya's character ask as he looks at Turner-Smith. She answers, also without opening her mouth a painfully honest response.

Director Melina Matsoukas explodes in her feature directorial debut by filming what may be the most beautiful film of 2019. Her use of colour and light is stunning. She sets he scenes in a way that keeps her leads separate at first, slowing bringing them closer together until they are almost blending together in a powerful love scene near the end, a scene boldly juxtaposed with a scene of protest and violence. Her choices are rich and original. Queen & Slim is absolutely gorgeous to watch and the story she is telling is continually surprising, despite the sense of inevitability I mentioned established early on. It is like we all know where this has to go but how it gets there remains unexpected.

At the centre of the film are two powerful performances. Kaluuya has broken out recently but I think I have still never been as moved by him as I was here. His face is riveting to watch as he wrestles with becoming something he never thought he would. And Turner-Smith is a magnetic vision. Her character is a complex revelation through her performance. "I know how strong you are" Kaluuya tells her near the end. And we feel every ounce of that strength.

Queen & Slim is just about everything I could want from a movie. I can't stop thinking about the little moments of happiness, of joy, which sit with me after the credit roll.

Queen & Slim
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Indya Moore, Chloe Sevigny, Flea, Sturgill Simpson
Director: Melina Matsoukas
Writer: Lena Waithe