Queen and Slim’s first date seems to be going pretty well, even if starts off a bit shakily. Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith, “Nightflyers”) decided to go out with Slim (Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”) because she liked his profile pic. “You had this sad look on your face — I felt sorry for you,” she reveals in the new trailer for “Queen & Slim.” “Damn,” he replies.
Still, the two seem to have an easy rapport. Slim suggests they hang out and as they drive around, a cop pulls them over. Queen and Slim are black, and the cop is white. Things quickly get scary, and Slim gets a gun pointed in his face. The altercation ends with him accidentally killing the police officer. Then he and Queen make a run for it.
Most of the “Queen & Slim” trailer teases the couple’s transformation from two people excited by the prospect of a new relationship to “the black Bonnie and Clyde.” They get help from sympathetic friends and family, change their appearances, and torch their car. “I want to ride or die,” Slim says, seemingly cementing his commitment to Queen as well as his life as a fugitive. Queen appears to be on board: “There is nothing back there for us,” she agrees.
“Queen & Slim” is written by Lena Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas. In 2017, the former became the first black woman to win a comedy writing Emmy for her “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None,” which was helmed by Matsoukas. She created Showtime drama “The Chi” and co-created BET comedy “Boomerang.” Waithe’s long-in-the-works series about a young queer black woman and her two straight BFFs, “Twenties,” was recently ordered to series at BET. As for her on-screen work, Waithe will next appear in Season 3 of “Westworld,” expected in 2020.
Matsoukas is making her feature directorial debut with “Queen & Slim.” She’s helmed over half a dozen episodes of HBO’s “Insecure.” She won Grammy Awards for Rihanna’s “We Found Love” and Beyoncé’s “Formation” music videos, and was named the 2019 recipient of the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal last month.
“Queen & Slim” hits theaters November 27.
