Just turn on a replay of last night’s Democratic debate and you’ll see that racism is more of an issue in this country than ever before. It only makes sense that Hollywood should reflect that aspect of our times, while breaking boundaries that genre has been trapped in for decades. Queen & Slim is just such a movie that can do it, thanks to the collaboration of director Melina Matsoukas and Emmy-winning writer Lena Waithe.
Queen & Slim is more than just a black Bonnie & Clyde. The film stars Get Out and Black Panther‘s Daniel Kaluuya and relative newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith as a couple whose first date goes awry when an unexpected traffic stop spins violently out of control. Matsoukas is the award-winning filmmaker behind Beyonce’s Formation, while Waithe is the Emmy-winning writer of Netflix’s Master of None. She also had a role in Ready Player One.
“I wanted to give voice to all the nameless, faceless men and women of color whose lives were taken unjustly and who didn’t make it home. I actually refer to them as fallen soldiers, but unfortunately, they were fighting a war they didn’t know they were in”, Waithe recently said in an Essence Festival Q&A.
Queen & Slim hits theaters on November 27th.
