On Nov. 27, a new feature film will lock moviegoers into a suspenseful ride. Starring Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Widows) and rising star Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim places a lens on race, social justice, love, and more themes.
The drama is directed by famed visionary Melina Matsoukas and written by The Chi‘s Lena Waithe. A synopsis of the film reads:
While on a forgettable first date together in Ohio, a black man (Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya) and a black woman (Jodie Turner-Smith, in her first starring feature-film role), are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. The situation escalates, with sudden and tragic results, when the man kills the police officer in self-defense. Terrified and in fear for their lives, the man, a retail employee, and the woman, a criminal defense lawyer, are forced to go on the run. But the incident is captured on video and goes viral, and the couple unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people across the country.
In an interview with Shadow & Act, Matsoukas honed in on a central theme of the movie and hopes it resonates with viewers.
“Love is definitely one, police brutality is another theme. You know, we created this film to honor those Black lives—people who have lost their lives, because of police brutality and try to bring that conversation to the table. But also the main theme is love,” she said. “I love the backdrop of our social—our racial climate for this story because it makes it contemporary, but that’s really the main theme is Black love and how in our unity as Black people that’s our best power fight against injustice to fight against oppression.”
Watch the trailer above.
