Good #3

A movie about the worst Tinder date…ever. Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith star as the title characters, two young people who meet in a diner for an online date that only goes so-so. On their way home, where the date will not be continuing, they are pulled over by a cop who racially profiles them and bad things happen.

Queen and Slim go on the run, become social media celebrities, and yes, start liking each other a whole lot more.

Director Melina Matsoukas isn’t giving us a very original movie here, but the atmospherics are solid, and the performances truly drive the film. Turner-Smith is terrific as a lawyer who finds herself on the wrong side of the law, while Kaluuya brings a sweet sadness to the teetotaling Slim.

The film deals bluntly with its subject of police brutality, with both good and bad cops present in the movie. There’s no question why it’s being called the “black Bonnie & Clyde” in that the movie follows many of the same beats as the sixties classic. It stands as a decent statement on many current civil rights issues, and its a nice step forward for Matsoukas as a director to be reckoned with.