Judas and the Black Messiah

The two main acting performances really carry this film. Kaluuya and Stanfield both do tremendous work and make this film a compelling watch. It's a tough. depressing movie to watch, but it feels appropriately timed with its release. It's inevitable to compare this to another recent film containing some of the same characters, The Trial of the Chicago 7. While Chicago 7 is a more enjoyable watch and really zips along with energy, Judas is more unflinching in its reality and less "Hollywood." This isn't to say there aren't the typical story beats you expect in a film like this, but it overall feels more impactful.

Both are based on the true story which happened in Chicago in 1968 and 1969, so two movies give the whole picture of what it was like in Chicago in late 60s. Social oppression, protest in reaction, police's excessive force of use, discrimination against the weaker are the words to describe atmosphere around that time. It's interesting to compare and contrast how Fred Hampton is realized in two movies. Other than that, there are many things to compare and contrast both contents and the forms.

'Judas and the Black Messiah' is disappointing that the director could have done so much more with such an important historical figure (similar with 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'). The screenwriting is stretched and elongated. The momentum and the tension have to be built up for December 4th Monroe Massacre where all the powerful emotions burst. However, the director fails not only to build up but also to have a great ending.

P.S. History speaks that William O'Neal is still a weak coward then and now.

So let's start with the good. The cinematography and period setting is top notch and really puts you in the era. The acting is very good and helps with holding together a porous story.

Now for the bad. I really really wanted to love this movie. But...If you're looking for a biopic of Fred Hampton, this ain't it. Plain and simple. If you're looking for a movie that tells you more than you already knew about an understated important figure in black history, again this ain't it.

What you will get is a movie about an FBI informant who's motives are questionable at best, that happens to have Fred Hampton featured in it. If you're not versed in the names of people in Hampton's inner circle, you will be confused and have a hard time remembering who's who, as characters come and go constantly, with virtually no character development.

The movie is entertaining for the most part as the acting is quite good. But the story itself is all over the place and some scenes are longer than they need to be. You won't know much more about the great Fred Hampton, than you did before you watched this movie. It's too bad because I was waiting for this one.

People will trip over themselves to give this positive marks, but as a student of history and someone who loves a good drama in a period piece, this movie missed a great opportunity for sure.

I had no idea any of this actually happened, so it's great that a film was made about this. This is a powerful film that I would highly recommend.

After seeing The Trial of the Chicago 7, I read about the people involved and came across Fred Hampton's story which really fascinated me. I believe Judas and the Black Messiah did it justice.

Judas and the Black Messiah follows Bill O'Neal, a man who becomes an FBI informant to gain inside information on the Deputy Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton.

After watching the first trailer, I got goosebumps. Even after repeat viewings of the trailer, I still got goosebumps. No trailer has made me feel like that before and so I was anticipating this film for a long time. This film was unflinching in its portrayal of its events and I loved every bit of it. It may be a disappointment to some as Fred Hampton isn't in the film as much as you would think but I thought showing this story through the perspective of O'Neal was a great choice. Bill O'Neal was an interesting person who did make choices that were questionable and I liked the conflict that built over time between his allegiance to the FBI and the Black Panther Party. Lakeith Stanfield gives one of his best performances here as O'Neal. There are so many layers and nuances in his performance to give an idea of what his character is like. Despite knowing the story, I was still stunned by some of the things O'Neal does and somehow Stanfield still manages to make him somewhat sympathetic by the end.

The main attraction here is Daniel Kaluuya who is mesmerising as Fred Hampton. He pulls off the accent brilliantly and adds so much charisma and power to the dialogue by Will Berson and Shaka King. A particular scene where he's speaking to a large group of people is made so powerful by the energy and confidence Kaluuya brings to each word that comes out of his mouth. I couldn't believe this was the same man from Get Out. This is the biggest chance for him to win a Best Supporting Actor award and I hope he does. Jesse Plemons is also amazing here. I'm so happy his career is flourishing. Dominique Fishback is also fantastic and brings a level of emotion to the film.

For a second feature, this is really impressive from Shaka King. I see a great amount of confidence in his direction and writing and I'm hoping to see more of him in the future. There are a couple of shootout scenes and its depiction of violence was hard-hitting and held a substantial amount of weight to it. The score is very unusual but at the same time I liked the way it was used in the film.

All in all, Judas and the Black Messiah is a powerful film. It brings to a light an important time in history and educates us on someone that wasn't that well known. With striking performances from Kaluuya and Stanfield, this is a film that should be watched.