Queen & Slim
While on a forgettable first date together in Ohio, a black man and a black woman are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. The situation escalates, with sudden and tragic results.
Despite a respectable budget of $20.0M, Queen & Slim became a box office success, earning $47.8M worldwide—a 139% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Queen & Slim (2019) demonstrates precise narrative design, characteristic of Melina Matsoukas's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 14-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 11 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.5, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Queen and Slim sit awkwardly across from each other on an uncomfortable first Tinder date at a diner, their fundamental differences and lack of chemistry immediately apparent.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 16 minutes when During a traffic stop on their drive home, a white police officer escalates the situation, shoots Queen in the leg, and Slim wrestles for the gun and kills the officer in self-defense.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 34 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 26% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Queen and Slim make the active choice to flee together, driving away from Cleveland and beginning their journey as fugitives, fully crossing into a new world where they are now wanted criminals., moving from reaction to action.
The Collapse moment at 97 minutes (74% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, At the bar/club where they were supposed to meet their escape contact, Uncle Earl is shot and killed by police, eliminating their only path to freedom and bringing literal death to their father figure and helper., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 106 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Despite knowing it's nearly hopeless, Queen and Slim resolve to attempt escape anyway by going to the airstrip where a plane waits, choosing love and defiance over surrender, synthesizing acceptance of their fate with determination to try., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Queen & Slim's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 14 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Queen & Slim against these established plot points, we can identify how Melina Matsoukas utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Queen & Slim within the crime genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional crime films include The Bad Guys, Batman Forever and 12 Rounds.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Queen and Slim sit awkwardly across from each other on an uncomfortable first Tinder date at a diner, their fundamental differences and lack of chemistry immediately apparent.
Theme
During their tense dinner conversation, Queen tells Slim about her work as a defense attorney and the systemic injustice she witnesses, establishing the film's themes of institutional racism and survival in America.
Worldbuilding
The awkward first date establishes Queen as a principled, guarded lawyer and Slim as a more casual, go-with-the-flow retail worker, showing their ordinary lives in Cleveland before everything changes.
Disruption
During a traffic stop on their drive home, a white police officer escalates the situation, shoots Queen in the leg, and Slim wrestles for the gun and kills the officer in self-defense.
Resistance
In shock, Queen and Slim debate what to do—Queen insists they must run because no one will believe a Black man and woman killed a white cop in self-defense, while Slim initially resists before accepting the reality of their situation.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Queen and Slim make the active choice to flee together, driving away from Cleveland and beginning their journey as fugitives, fully crossing into a new world where they are now wanted criminals.
Mirror World
Queen and Slim arrive at the home of Uncle Earl (Slim's relative), who represents an alternative moral framework and becomes a guide who helps them despite the risk, initiating their deeper connection as they depend on each other.
Premise
Queen and Slim journey through the American South, becoming folk heroes to the Black community while evading police, their relationship deepening from strangers to lovers as they experience freedom, danger, and connection on the run.
Opposition
The manhunt intensifies as Queen and Slim become national news, protests erupt in their name, Queen's best friend faces pressure from police, and a young boy inspired by them shoots a cop, showing the dangerous consequences of their folk hero status.
Collapse
At the bar/club where they were supposed to meet their escape contact, Uncle Earl is shot and killed by police, eliminating their only path to freedom and bringing literal death to their father figure and helper.
Crisis
In the dark aftermath of Earl's death and with their escape plan destroyed, Queen and Slim grapple with despair, hopelessness, and the realization that they may never escape, even as they try to find another way out.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Despite knowing it's nearly hopeless, Queen and Slim resolve to attempt escape anyway by going to the airstrip where a plane waits, choosing love and defiance over surrender, synthesizing acceptance of their fate with determination to try.
Synthesis
Queen and Slim make their final run to the airstrip, are surrounded by police, share a last kiss and declaration of love, and face their tragic end as police open fire, with Slim killed and Queen captured alive.
Transformation
Queen is shown in prison, transformed from the guarded woman at the opening diner into someone who experienced profound love and resistance, while Slim lies dead—their ordinary lives replaced by martyrdom and legend.