Queen & Slim was...uneven.
There's parts of this film that I really like, it absolutely oozes style there are so many great shots and outfits to appreciate here as well as a killer soundtrack, overall great presentation.
On the other hand, the writing, the writing works for me about half the time helped along by Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith who give deep performances with excellent chemistry. But some of the writing is so cheeseball Tyler Perry-esque horseshit that it really turned me off at points. The random moron in the Chubbies parking lot being one of the low points.
The plot is loaded with contrivances and wholly unbelievable situations and outcomes that its insistence that it's a serious reflection on blackness in America was hard to swallow. The core relationship works really well and is by far the strongest aspect but a lot of the fugitive stuff and their interactions with other characters feel incredibly out of place.
Obviously, I'm not the target demo for this film but I'm of the opinion that that's mostly horseshit marketing talk and that quality will come through regardless. I certainly didn't hate it, there are some very worthwhile sequences in the film that are powerful and poignant, but as a complete piece, it felt messy and thematically confused.
7/10 Death isn't the end.