Queen & Slim: Neon NZ Film Review

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya,  Jodie Turner Smith 
Director: Melina Matsoukas

Queen and Slim desperately wants to be a classic, a "black Bonnie and Clyde" as they even refer to themselves but in truth the rambling drama feels more like a missed opportunity than a gritty timely social commentary.Kaluuya and Smith are strong enough as the two leads and the film early on has a kind of intimacy that a good relationship drama requires as we first meet the pair on a first date.

Soon after that, their date takes a disastrous turn when they're pulled over by a police car....

However, the film's leaps of logic and suspensions of disbelief prove almost fatal after the initial horror of the police assault takes place. 

Shot in an almost verite style the unfolding drama grips as the duo are caught in an all too familiar scenario, and one that would provide a rich source for drama.

Yet once they set out on the run, the detours prove to be more of a distraction and threads of the two being the touch paper for a societal revolution jar more than cohesively gel.

Though the divisions between the community over whether to support or condemn are a worthwhile thread, they’re always secondary to the proceedings with the film's style being the sole raison d’être as it plays out amid moody shots, music-video stylings and intriguing camera angles.

There’s an easy charm and charisma to Kaluuya's character as he negotiates his way through the maelstrom; equally Smith goes from spiky to soft and back again with speed and the emotional whiplash is giddying, but finally satisfying.

Ultimately though Queen & Slim is more about style than great substance; sure, there's some commentary going on under the hood, but this is far from the classic it could be - despite the work of the talented cast, thanks to a messy approach and a need to fine tune the script.