An awkward first date sets the tone Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim. Language and communication is just as much about talking as it is about the silences, our two characters are soon to discover, and Queen & Slim establishes early on the power of silence and the unspoken word. The magic of Tinder lands a man of dubious socioeconomic status (Daniel Kaluuya) and his recalcitrant one-night-eating-partner (Jodie Turner-Smith) at a diner booth with little to talk about. And little hope of physical connection. Silence can be warm or it can be infinitely awkward. This is definitely the later. An African-American lawyer, she wonders if it was the best he could afford. He claims they’re here because “It’s black-owned”. So too is Queen & Slim.

From its black director, black screenwriter, pair of black stars and predominantly black cast, this is a movie that wears its blackness like a badge. In spite of the dumbed-down elevator pitch that Queen & Slim is like a black Bonnie and Clyde, Matsoukas brings a timely energy and moral center to her vision that helps it transcend any kind of cheap racial remix. As much as that picture focused on the working class’ rejection of status quo, Queen & Slim puts the American police system into focus when a minor traffic infraction leads to a life or death situation because, you guessed it, black folks are involved. The film carries the weight of real world injustice, reminding us of the countless instances where a white cop has killed a black American simply because they could, and uses that leverage point as a way to tell a fictionalized story with grounded social implications. The effect is not exactly subtle, nor is its call to action muted – some might even call the film “extremist” – and this could potentially rub some viewers the wrong way.

When the two star-crossed patrons end up fighting back against a cop with a gun trained on, death ensues. But not the one that’s “according to plan.” Kaluuya accidentally kills the trigger-happy police officer, a man ready to execute them for the crime of being black in public. Their terrible date ends in a life-changing altercation, their lives inextricably ruined by a white man with a gun, a badge, and obvious racial biases. In the blink of an eye, they become criminals. Some might say that they could have reported the incident, citing footage of the event as proof of their innocence, but that presupposes a justice system that is actually just. In the light of police officers who regularly get let off the hook following the slaying of an African-American citizen minding their own damn business, we know that is not always the case. Sometimes, it’s not even often the case.

When the footage of the incident finds its way onto the national news cycle, the two come to be viewed as symbols. Over the course of the ensuing days, the now-outlaws must flee across the country, road-tripping from Ohio down through New Orleans, through Alabama and Florida, hoping to make their way to Cuba with a large-scale manhunt underway. Along the way, they find all sorts of allies, people ready to stand up against a system that ranks black Americans beneath their white counterparts, with many willing to aid and abet the overnight-infamous duo.

Working from a script from Lena Waithe (the Master of None breakout and seasoned television writer), Matsoukas molds her story into one of great consequence, with real world implications that aren’t cut and dry, nor easily compact into a tidy statement on social justice. Waithe’s work is thought-provoking from a moralistic standpoint and begs big questions about police brutality and the ensuing protests that follow without feeling the need to tie a bow around it all. The two characters come to represent violent revolution on a national stage, a racial revolution that becomes sloppy and harder to parse and champion when the situation becomes more complex than murderous white police officer and innocent black bystander. The movie is willing to sit with this uneasy complexity, draw attention to the real human impact, and finger the system that perpetuates such routine oppression.

Matsoukas’s hand proves especially keen at breathing life into her characters, as evidenced by the fact that we don’t ever really learn their names really (nor do they ever go by “Queen” or “Slim” for that matter) and yet we come to know them inside and out. Kaluuya (Us, Widows) is once again excellent here, bringing a character of great complexity and tragedy to life, ironically taking on another leading man in a genre thriller with significant thematic weight. He’s matched by newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith who layers her performance with righteous anger, the chilling effects of the unlawful status quo finally breaking a lady of the law into a proper outlaw. When the shit hits the fan, it’s her who is prepared to make the tough call and go off the reservation. He is mostly just along for the ride in a somewhat gender-reversal of the iconic couple on-the-lamb.

Kaluuya and Turner-Smith’s chemistry burns like a torch with Matsoukas using formal filmmaking grammar to visually represent the barrier between them dissolving. Early shots frame each as stark individual, restricted to their own space within the frame. As their bond grows, so too does Matsoukas’ framing shift until finally there’s barely a shot that includes one characters without the other. Awkward silences turn to warm silences.

Tonally, Queen & Slim manages poignancy and sheer entertainment value eagerly, offering a good amount of laughs and thrills along the way while remaining true to the moralistic message the film clearly hopes to communicate. The soundtrack is straight fire, providing its own kind of road trip throughout the map of black American music. There’s East Coast hip-hop, West Coast rap, blues, soul, R&B and a breakdown of Skinny vs. Fat Luther that’ll force audiences to, ahem, weigh in themselves. When Queen & Slim tips towards being a little heavy-handed in its messaging, the music continuously tempers the scene, reminding us that despite the dark fate that potentially awaits these characters, it’s the little moments that make the journey worthwhile. Especially if you have a partner in crime worth dying for.

CONCLUSION: ‘Queen & Slim’ is a strong showcase for debut filmmaker Melina Matsoukas, who creates a poignant and exciting social message of a film led with spirited aplomb by Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith.