Lena Waithe’s newest project, dubbed “the Black Bonnie & Clyde” in film circles, is finally getting a release date — and we have the flick’s new trailer.
The Melina Matsoukas-directed ‘Queen & Slim,’ starring Daniel Kaluuya, has been building buzz for months. In the script written by Waithe and based on an original idea by bestselling author James Frey, newbie actress Jodie Smith-Turner’s Queen plays a defense attorney who goes on a first date with Kaluuya’s character, Slim.
But that first date goes awry after a traffic stop ends with a cop being killed, forcing them to go on the run.
“Terrified and in fear for their lives, the man, a retail employee, and the woman, a criminal defense lawyer, are forced to go on the run,” the film synopsis says. “But the incident is captured on video and goes viral, and the couple unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief, and pain for people across the country.”
This is the first feature film for both Matsoukas and Waithe, who said she referenced the 90s classic Set It Off when writing the script.
“It’s such a huge compliment. Bonnie & Clyde changed the conversation. Thelma & Louise is iconic,” she told Complex of the film being compared to these two classics. “But the thing that they aren’t realizing is another reference for me would be Set It Off…In terms of Black people being at a very difficult place with their back being against the wall and nothing that they [can] do [but] to keep going.”
Queen & Slim hits theaters on November 27, 2019
