Review: Judas and the Black Messiah

Judas and the Black Messiah, directed by Shaka King, tells the tale of Bill O’Neal (Lakieth Stanfield) who, after getting caught hijacking a car, gets recruited by FBI Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) to infiltrate the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter, led by its charismatic chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) in the hopes of bringing him down. But as O’Neal slowly works his way up the party and gains the trust of its leader, he finds that Hampton isn’t exactly the threat the FBI paints him to be.

This is one of many movies distributed by Warner Bros this year that saw a simultaneous release in both theaters and HBO Max, and it’s one that’s suddenly picking up steam for this year’s awards circuit. It is a bit of a shame because had this film been properly released last year like all the other awards contenders for this year I would’ve put it in my Top 10 Movies list of 2020, but I guess a spot in my 2021 list isn’t all too bad. Judas and the Black Messiah is an electrifying biopic dripping with personality and artistic vision from its sophomore director.

The biggest draw to this film is quite easily the performances. Both Stanfield and Kaluuya give it their all and perform brilliantly. Stanfield’s ultimately the performance I enjoyed watching the most but Kaluuya gives off such a powerful presence and leaves such a strong impression in his scenes that the film almost feels empty when he’s not on screen. I’d still consider Stanfield my favorite performance in the film by a smidge due to how nuanced his portrayal of O’Neal’s conflicted feelings about his job was.

What impresses me even more was how the film gives near equal amounts of screen time to both its leads, allowing the film to flesh out both characters even more. Everyone else in the film all gave wonderful performances, the writing was fantastic, Shaka King’s direction was especially impressive here, the cinematography is great, and the film’s soundtrack allows the film to stand out over other similar biopics. The only real drawback I had with the film is its pacing; it’s not exactly a brisk watch as some scenes meander for way too long, but outside of that this film was pretty fantastic.

Overall I got exactly what I wanted in this film and then some. Had COVID not been a thing and allowed this film to retain its original release date it would’ve been one of my favorite films of 2020. Still though, it’s a great start for this movie year and I anticipate it picking up many accolades over the next two months. If you haven’t checked it out yet go see it in theaters or on HBO Max while it’s still on there.

Final Verdict: 9/10