Judas and the Black Messiah

 

Judas and the Black Messiah is an award winning biographical drama starring Golden Globe & Academy Award winning Best Supporting Actor, Daniel Kaluuya and Best Supporting Actor nominee, Lakeith Stanfield. The film is set in 1960s Illinois and follows the emerging domination of Black Panther Party chairman, Fred Hampton, and the man who betrayed him, FBI informant, William O'Neal.

Fred Hampton's story is powerful and relevant, even today. His efforts to unite all marginalized communities in a Rainbow Coalition to fight the larger crimes against humanity and liberate their communities was brave and admirable. It was also the root cause to J Edgar Hoover’s FBI doing everything in their power to sabotage him and his plight.

This film did a great job of portraying the power of white supremely. It showed how the FBI manipulated poor people of color to do the dirty work. How they tried to say the Black Panthers and the KKK were the same. One phrase that character Roy Mitchell of the FBI, played by Jesse Plemons, said that hit so close to home for me, was "You can't cheat or shoot your way to equality". Like it was something that people of color could actually obtain; but what he and many others like him, refused to acknowledge, was how the government itself was purposely preventing that said equality.

The soundtrack, cinematography and edits were smooth and fitting for the era. It reminded me of a better version of a Spike Lee joint.

The casting was well done. Everyone did a compelling job but Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya were the stars. I honestly would not have been upset Lakeith won the Oscar or Golden Globe instead of Daniel because they were both great. They played well off of one another, the good and bad, a juxtaposition if you will. Kaluuya is British but had a spot on American accent and portrayed Fred Hampton as a persuasive, passionate, confident man of the people. Stanfield on the other hand played the part of the Judas, William O'Neal, brilliantly. He showed how O'Neal’s desperation lead to poor choices that ended up taking him down a path that he didn’t particularly want to take; but in an act of self-preservation he did want he thought was right for him in a very sneaky, immature, conniving and selfish manner.

Overall I thought that this was a well-made film. It gave a different take on what the Black Panther Party was and what their goals were. It also showed how even though this happened over 60 years ago, not much has changed regarding police brutality and the oppression of marginalized communities. This film deserved all of the accolades it received and is well worth the watch.