10 Movies To Watch After Queen & Slim

Out of all the films that came out in 2019, Universal Picture’s thriller Queen & Slim easily ranks as one of the best. The film got a ton of positive reception from both critics and audience members alike, currently holding an 82% on rotten tomatoes. It focuses on themes of racial injustice and police brutality all while managing to tell a story about two people slowly falling in love.

Since the film does so many things well, it means that there are plenty of movies that people who enjoyed this movie would also love. Here are 10 movies to watch after Queen & Slim.

10 Moonlight (2016)

Moonlight, based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, follows a young man named Chiron through three chapters of his life: His childhood, adolescence, and adult life.

Throughout the film, audiences see him struggle with his identity and sexuality as he attempts to understand who he truly is. The film received a lot of positive praise all around and even received the Oscar for Best Picture in 2016.

9 Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut portrays the series of events that unfold when Chris, a young African-American, gets invited by his white girlfriend, Rose, to finally meet her parents.

While it does have a much different tone than Queen & Slim since it falls more into the horror/thriller category, the film also deals heavily with the concept of racial divides, albeit in a very different way. Plus there is the added bonus that Get Out stars Daniel Kaluuya who plays “Slim.”

8 Fruitvale Station (2013)

Fruitvale Station follows 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, who is trying to live a clean life after previously spending time in prison. Directed by Black Panther‘s Ryan Coogler, the project which stars Micahel B. Jordan as Oscar tells the gut-wrenching true story of the tragic events of the last day of the year.

Like Queen & Slim, police brutality plays a large role in Fruitvale Station and its themes. However, while Queen & Slim focuses on the main two characters as they run from the law, Fruitvale Station shows a man desperately trying to turn his life around.

7 BlacKkKlansman (2018)

The movie tells the true story of Ron Stallworth, played by John David Washington, the first African-American Colorado Springs Police Department detective and his mission to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

In BlacKkKlansman, Stallworth recruits a fellow detective, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to go undercover as him in order to get closer to the members of the Klan. The film does a great job of taking the events that occur and comparing them to the current times in a way that makes it evident that the racism that existed during Stallworth’s days on the force is still alive in America today.

6 The Hate U Give (2018)

Starr Carter, an African-American young woman who constantly feels divided between two vastly different environments: The mostly white school she attends and the poor neighborhood where she lives. The wall between the two starts to crumble when she sees her childhood friend, Khalil, get shot and killed by a police officer, setting her on a path to fight for justice.

5 Blindspotting (2018)

Blindspotting – which was written by and stars Hamilton actor Daveed Diggs and his long-time collaborator Rafael Casal – focuses on the former’s Colin, a young man who starts to re-evaluate his relationship with his troublemaking best friend, Casal’s Miles, while attempting to make it through his last three days of probation.

One of the things that set the movie apart is its use of rap and rhyme and how the film successfully weaves those elements into the story in an authentic way that never feels gimmicky or forced.

4 Detroit (2017)

Set in the summer of 1967, Detroit centers around the incident that took place at the Algiers Motel in Detroit, Michigan. The incident resulted in the death of three black men and injuries to nine other people.

The film stars a lot of talented actors such as John Boyega, John Krasinski, and Anthony Mackie, and Detroit was applauded for its handling of multiple storylines and the way it handled its themes.

3 If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Set in Harlem in the early 1970s, If Beale Street Could Talk focuses on the unwavering bond between a couple, Alonzo and Tish. The film is told through Tish’s eyes and follows her and her family’s battle to use every resource at their disposal in order to help free Alonzo after he is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Due to the setting and time period, race and racism naturally play a large part in the overall story. Much like Queen & Slim, beneath all the things If Beale Street Could Talk has to say about injustice and racism, it tells a beautiful love story

2 Black and Blue (2019)

Black and Blue follows a rookie police officer, played by Naomie Harris, that witnesses the murder of an unarmed drug dealer at the hands of corrupt cops and captures it on her body cam. The rest of the film sees her trying to escape from the vengeful criminals and the officers who want to destroy the footage.

One of the biggest similarities between this movie and Queen & Slim is how a shooting involving a corrupt officer is what essentially kicks off the plot of both movies.

1 Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

While it may not seem like it has a lot in common with Queen & Slim, the Spanish film directed by Alfonso Cuaron shares one major connection: They are both road movies. Y Tu Mamá También follows two young men as they go on a summer road trip with an older woman.

Queen & Slim‘s director, Melina Matsoukas spoke about how that was one of the many films she looked at and took inspiration from, specifically in regards to understanding how she wanted to shoot the car scenes where the couple spends the majority of their time.

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