For the new issue ofEmpire – on shelves now! – we sat down for an exclusive conversation with Melina Matsoukas, Lena Waithe, Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya: respectively the director, writer and stars of Queen & Slim. "It's Melina's first feature film," says Kaluuya. "It's Lena's first feature script. It's Jodie's first starring role. And I learned so much, because they don't give a fuck about the rules."
Already a hit on the festival circuit, Queen & Slim is an unpredictable, gripping and vital protest movie made in reaction to numerous recent incidents of police brutality against African Americans. Queen (Turner-Smith) and Slim (Kaluuya) are on an otherwise unremarkable drive home when they're pulled over by a white police officer. The situation spirals out of control and erupts into violence, forcing the pair to go on the run together. The non-couple who hadn't expected to see each other again gradually come to realise they have far more in common than they first thought.
For Kaluuya, the experience of first reading the screenplay was comparable to his first encounter with a previous breakout success. "When I read the script I had the same feeling as when I first read Get Out," he tells us. "I have a friend who... said, 'You should only make a film if you've got something to scream about.' With Get Out it was like, 'Hoo-whoo-whoo-whoo!' And with Queen & Slim it was like, 'It's urgent, man.' I was zipping through the pages. It had this visceral thing... (but) it was accessible to people that don't understand the specificity of this experience. Jordan Peele did the same thing with a horror."
Queen & Slim is released in UK cinemas on 31 January 2020. For much more on the film, and plenty else besides, pick up the brand new issue of Empire, available at newsstands right now.
