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“Judas and the Black Messiah” opens with J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) showing FBI agents videos of the Black Panther Party speaking with the media. One clip features the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), saying, “We don’t fight fire with fire; we fight fire with water.”

Hoover vilified Hampton and the other Black Panthers at the meeting despite the clips actually showing Hampton promoting equality.

In the film, director Shaka King navigates the racial tension in Chicago during the 1960s with compassion and anger by filming Hampton and the Black Panther Party favorably while outlining the racist tactics of the FBI.

The film boasts a stellar cast including Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield and Martin Sheen. Stanfield gave a phenomenal turn in a more serious role than usual as Bill O’Neal, an FBI informant who infiltrated the Black Panther movement.

The film is based on Bill O’Neal’s real-life infiltration of the Black Panther Party in Chicago. While he may not have fully supported the Black Panthers, O’Neal makes an emotional connection to Hampton and the movement. Stanfield is able to capture his reluctance to keep going with the operation while also showing his fear and cowardice in continuing to fall deeper into the arms of the FBI.

Kaluuya’s skillful acting shines in the scenes where Hampton is in private and most vulnerable, as he portrays a man who is troubled by the current state of the world and stands up for injustice, which leads to his eventual assasination. The activist constantly puts himself in tense situations in the name of bringing people together and helping those in need, and Kaluuya is able to capture all of Hampton’s complexities.

The rest of the cast gives more humanity and personality to the Black Panther Party. In particular, Dominique Fishback is fantastic as Deborah Johnson (who now goes by Akua Njeri), an activist and Hampton’s fiancee. She has easy chemistry with Kaluuya and the duo strikes at the emotional core of the film, even in their small number of scenes.

The screenplay, written by King and Will Berson, carefully sways back and forth between the script and letting the cast act freely. Whether depicting negotiations between Hampton and his fellow Panthers or O’Neal discussing the investigation with FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), the cast has room to breathe and digest the tense situations.

Despite the story being told from O’Neal’s perspective, the way King and Berson portray Hampton – as someone who is able to rally a crowd with his words and unite a divided room with a quick conversation – leaves Hampton as the story’s spark plug. The movie also gives great attention to the rest of Black Panther Party, signifying Hampton’s message in the film of “power to the people.”

The film is also brutally honest about the racially divided state of the U.S. in the 1960s, which in many ways mirrors today’s tense racial climate. The shootout scenes are hard to watch, and the portrayal of the FBI, particularly Mitchell and Hoover, is just as disturbing for how openly they admit their racist beliefs given their positions of power.

“Judas and the Black Messiah” is a troubling movie to watch at points, mainly because of the film’s ability to make the quiet aspects of American racial strife blaringly loud. King crafts a film that forces viewers to acknowledge these issues by looking through the lenses of O’Neal, a person only looking out for himself, and Hampton, someone looking out for everyone.

Published on February 15, 2021 at 9:10 pm

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu