Queen & Slim explores what could occur if the tables were turned in those untimely deaths. However, some may find several outcomes disturbing and pointless. In particular, a conflict between a Black teen and a Black cop seems to be an unnecessary interaction in the midst of a protest.
Visually, Matsoukas, who directed Beyoncé’s Lemonade short film, magnificently captures the essence of the South as Queen and Slim travel through Texas, New Orleans, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. The film’s score also perfectly intertwines different genres of Black music as songs by artists including Lauryn Hill, Slim Thug, Luther Vandross, Roy Ayers and Megan Thee Stallion serve as the soundtrack to Queen and Slim’s journey to survive.
While on the run and fighting for their lives, Queen and Slim find love. Queen relinquishes her hard edge and confesses to Slim that she wants to be loved to the point where she feels comfortable enough to reveal her scars without judgment. In a later conversation, Slim tells Queen a story about how, as a kid, he sought the truth about how babies were made. Slim’s father told him, “Babies come from two people who need something from each other.”
The quote served as an allegory of love being the cornerstone for the hope of Black survival in this nation.
In its conclusion, Queen & Slim will cause varying reactions from those who will vehemently oppose or agree with the underlying message of the film’s ending. Should Black America be given hope for the future, or is the darkness of an inescapable reality too grave to hide?
