Queen and Slim- Off the mark

Queen and Slim (2019) was directed by Melina Matsoukas and stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith. The story follows Queen and Smith as they are on the run after a normal traffic stop ends in a self defense nightmare. Their plan is to make it from Ohio to Florida to take a plane to Cuba. The movie starts well and invested me in their situation but the middle of the film is filled with tons of questionable decisions. I did enjoy both of the performances from Kaluuya and Turner-Smith but the most underrated performance in the film was Bookem Woodbine. His casting as Uncle Earl was one of the most realistic performances I have seen in a while. The action in the film was tense and brutal. The best scene in the film was the riot scene just due to how personal and shocking it was. It was heartbreaking and it really took me off guard. The film is something I would recommend to watch at least once but that is about it.  A strong cast that is forced to do a couple of questionable things throughout. Tense scenes and a heartbreaking storyline does deserve a watch though.

My Rating- 5.5/10

Rated- R

Rotten Tomatoes- 82%