The untold story of civil rights
Judas and the Black Messiah is a history lesson, but it’s not just a lecture. Yes, it does it finally bring to the screen one of the most important figures in the American civil rights story, Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (played masterfully by Daniel Kaluuya).
Yes, it is a film that keenly evokes the context that story took place in, both in the American struggle for equality and the global one that happened beyond the country’s borders.
This is a story about friendship and betrayal. We come to it by way of William O’Neal, in a career-best performance from LaKeith Stanfield, a carjacker who the FBI pressures into infiltrating Hampton’s group. O’Neal, an unwitting undercover agent, is at first is bemused by his role as a pretend activist before slowly becoming a believer in, and confidante of, Hampton himself.
In the end, O’Neal is ultimately forced to choose—he can sacrifice his life and the reputation he’s built for his friend, or he can destroy everything to save himself.
Told with thunderous personality and pace from Shaka King, it’s not just a history lesson, it’s a compelling piece of filmmaking with a clarity of vision and layered performances from two of the best actors on earth finally able to play against and elevate each other.
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