150 Word Review: ‘Judas And The Black Messiah’ (2021)
Death of a hero
Jesus was betrayed by one of his own. In the riveting true story Judas And The Black Messiah, Fred Hampton is a rising star in the Black Panther Party of late ’60s Chicago, a young revolutionary gifted with charisma and vision. He is double-crossed by William O’Neil, a small-time crook pressured by the Feds into infiltrating Hampton’s inner circle.
LaKeith Stanfield’s O’Neil is all charm and desperation, a rat trapped by the F.B.I. As Hampton, Daniel Kaluuya transforms a legend into a flesh-and-blood human, making his tragedy even more heartbreaking. Director Shaka King’s clear-eyed historical drama forces audiences to watch as cops plot the assassination of an innocent Black man whose only crime was speaking his truth. Judas And The Black Messiah isn’t a bloodless lecture; it is a hard look at injustices then and now. The movie is a reminder that powerful white men still do what they want.