- Title: Judas and the Black Messiah
- IMDb: link
Released in early 2021 to critical acclaim, Judas and the Black Messiah explored 1960s tensions between police, and the Federal Government, and the African-American community. Inspired by true events, thief and con man “Wild” Bill O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) is turned into FBI informant by the agency desperate to quell the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and the popularity and influence of its chairman Fred Hampton (Best Supporting Actor Daniel Kaluuya) in the late 1960s.
Kaluuya, who beat out co-star Stanfield as each were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, are the pillars of the film with each character squeezed by forces outside of their control while director Shaka King offers stark contrast to events with its presentation of FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), who uses Bill for his own ends, and his colleagues (Martin Sheen and Robert Longstreet, among others) pulling strings from the safety of their offices and five-star restaurants.
If the film has a weakness it’s in the female characters of the film and our characters outside the specifics of their relationship to the Black Panthers. Dominique Fishback gets plenty of time on screen as Hampton’s girlfriend. but, although the scenes themselves are well done, they don’t offer more insight into Hampton and often feel in the way of the focus of the story the film has decided to tell. The choice to make neither Hampton nor O’Neal the main character, who are parted for a major stretch of the film, also splits the focus a bit where one in a firmer lead role may have helped somewhat with the narrative thread.
Even with these small complaints, Judas and the Black Messiah successfully captures the twisted nature of the 1960s in terms of justice, right and wrong, abuse of power, oppression and rebellion, and the lengths the went to by those in power in order to protect the status quo. It’s a film that will make you both angry and sad watching the events unfold on-screen while diving into events over half-a-century which are still all too relatable today.
Watch the trailer
