This film was released in 2019, which means that the project must have started at least a year or two before that. Yet events that need not be mentioned this year have made it so cogent that it feels almost too raw and too potent to watch today. It is frequently described as the black Bonnie and Clyde and the film itself even drops that line, but it is so much more than that and intelligently uses the reference to demonstrate how differently black people are viewed and treated.

Defense attorney Queen meets a Tinder date Slim for the first time. Afterwards while driving back, they are stopped by a police officer who accuses them of erratic driving. Though they try to be meek, the officer seems determined to start something and shoots Queen in the leg. In response, Slim grabs the gun and shoots him dead. Realizing that they are now criminals, they panic over what to do and Queen suggests going to see her uncle in New Orleans for help. While trying to get fuel, they also end up stealing the truck of a sheriff, further cementing their notoriety. By the time they arrive, they are nationally wanted fugitives. But many people, especially in the black community, are sympathetic to them after viewing the dashcam video of the initial incident. Some even consider them to be heroes for standing up to the police. Queen’s Uncle Earl who is a pimp provides them with cash and directs them to a fellow Iraq war veteran who may be able to help smuggle them to Cuba.

This was the directorial debut of Melina Matsoukas who pretty much describes this project as activism. I think the filmmakers realized what a big deal this film would be even while they were making it and so every aspect of it is crafted and tuned with exacting care. Every line of dialogue is so sharp, every moment of the confrontation they have with the police is scripted and executed in full knowledge that it would be broken down and analyzed in the interests of assigning moral responsibility, all of the visual and musical references to black culture, the history of slavery in the US and its connotations, the clothes and music. Nothing in this film is left to chance as the film is perfectly tuned to say precisely what it is that the director intends to say. The incredible level of control that the director exercises here is impressive. In any other film, I might be grousing over the characters taking unnecessary risks or being less than perfectly efficient in the use of their time as they flee. But watching this, you can’t help but be convinced that it’s human nature to take the time to have a drink or indulge in a bit of whimsy and it’s why the relationship between the two is built up so convincingly and why they feel like real people.

The heart of the film is of course police killings of black people in the US and it is astonishing how complete the treatment here is. The tone is set early when Queen reveals that she is an attorney specializing in criminal defense. She insists that no state should have the power to execute its citizens and the question of guilt is irrelevant. It shows how anyone can in just a few seconds, be suddenly transformed from an innocent civilian who presumably enjoys the protection of the law to a hardened criminal who can be gunned down by the police with no repercussions whatsoever. It shows the two becoming folk heroes overnight yet also shows that they have no power over what other people might do in their name. It is careful to note that not all police officers are bad yet it also makes it clear that this doesn’t help them much as the legal authorities as a whole presume that they are the guilty parties. Most of all, by patterning them after Bonnie and Clyde, it demonstrates the hypocrisy of white America in remembering the white couple as anti-establishment folk heroes even though they kill and rob for fun and profit while any black person who commits the most minor of crimes would be condemned to summary execution.

Overall this is a film of superb craftsmanship, is intelligent and sensitive to current events and demonstrates admirable humanity and compassion. Even to those who have made up their minds on the topic of police killings in the US, it is so powerful and emotive that it is able to make your reexamine your feelings and understand that it’s so much worse than you ever thought. It is in short the best kind of activism film and as with Atlantics makes for a great example of what cinematic art can achieve.