I am surprised I have not heard much of anything about the movie Queen & Slim. I first discovered the title earlier this year when I stumbled upon its soundtrack on Spotify. I limited myself from listening beyond a few songs before watching. Now that I have seen it, I can confidently say it is one of my 5 or 10 favorite soundtracks I have heard in a movie, no exaggeration. Convinced by the music alone, I was looking forward to watching the movie once it became available for streaming. By the time it did, I had forgotten about it. I finally got to watching it last night. I highly recommend it. Had the film released this month instead of last November, I would not have been surprised to see it nominated for movie of the year. I do not mean to overhype it. In my opinion, a movie of the year level is far too high an expectation to set ahead of any viewing. That said, I have often seen only decent movies elevated to award status for their timeliness alone. If any of those movies qualified for such a premium, this fine film certainly does too. It raises a number of questions about what should and should not have happened in the story. I will share my brief perspective only partially on the latter.
In the beginning scene, the girl should not have made certain comments. The cop should not have pulled out his gun. The cop should not have shot the girl - it never should have gotten to that point. The cop should not have been shot - it never should have gotten near that point. Including the rest of the movie, anyone who was killed should not have been killed. I will not comment beyond that or beyond the confines of the movie in regards to racism. I do expect to share something at some point and it is probably not going to be a perspective you have read before. For now, I will simply end by stating that this movie deserves much more attention than it has received thus far. It is very well done, directly on point, and unquestionably worth the watch. I rate it an 8.1 out of 10.
