A young black man (Slim, Daniel Kaluuya) goes on a first date with Queen (Jodie-Turner Smith). On their way home, they are stopped by a white cop. As the cop aggressively questions the innocent Slim, Queen, a lawyer, protests and the policeman shoots her in the leg. In the ensuing confusion and panic, Slim shoots the cop dead. Thinking that no one will believe he acted in self defence, the pair go in the run…
With an interesting premise, and a terrific first 20 minutes or so, I expected to thoroughly enjoy Medina Matsoukas road movie come romantic thriller. However, the longer the film went on, the more it deteriorated. I don’t have a problem with the idea of innocent people fleeing rather than explaining to the police what happened, as some of my favourite films have that plot. But, there is no chance of them clearing their name, so the outcome seems pretty inevitable. The film also slows to a crawl in the second half as the pair stop to ride horses and go dancing, amongst other unnecessary diversions. The 132 minute running time feels way too long and neither of the 2 protagonists are interesting or likeable enough to make me care about their fate.
Kaluuya is an accomplished screen actor, and it is always good to see Chloe Sevigny pop up in a small part, but this really feels like an opportunity wasted.
Rating: 5 out of 10