“Queen & Slim” is a 2019 film that acts as a social commentary for police brutality, social justice, and racism in America. The film is directed by Melina Matsoukas and was distributed by Universal Pictures. The two main characters of the film are queen and slim, played by Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya.

The movie is seen as an African American take on the Bonnie and Clyde story.

The film’s plot is that a first date between two opposites ends terrible with one of them killing a cop in a self-defense act. The bodycam footage of the murder is spread all over every media with the two fugitives on the run.

“Queen & Slim” is the definition of a social justice movie with most of the themes being solely based on Black culture and perspectives. Everything from the settings, characters, and music screamed the aesthetic of African American culture.

The movie was overall beautiful with each of the settings being shown with unique camera angles and shots that truly capture the essence of each scene. Some settings were dark and dimly lit with certain lights being shined on the main characters skin beautifully together. The music was most enjoyable, with some points being a hard-sounding, gangster rap overlay music if the characters are in an intense scene, and then the music will change to a calm jazz song from the 70’s when the characters are relaxed.

With an almost two-and-a-half-hour runtime, the film tries its best to squeeze all it can throughout, which at times tries too hard to be dark and seems extreme at some scenes, with that comes its only fault of the film. There is a scene in the film that seems to be violent for the sake of just being violent, and has no real place other than a shock factor for the audience.

Overall “Queen & Slim” was an excellent film that shines bright on a modern issue of police brutality and social justice events. With beautiful directing and an amazing soundtrack, the film is bringing more to the table than expected.

4 out of 5 stars