Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

Plot Summary: FBI informant William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with bringing down its charismatic chairman, Fred Hampton — a young Black socialist powerful enough to unite entire communities, and the man J. Edgar Hoover called the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States.

Director: Shaka King
Screenplay: Will Berson, Shaka King
Producers: Charles D. King, Ryan Coogler, Shaka King
Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt
Music: Mark Isham, Craig Harris

Starring:
Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton
Lakeith Stanfield as Bill O'Neal
Jesse Plemons as Roy Mitchell
Dominique Fishback as Deborah Johnson
Martin Sheen as J. Edgar Hoover
Ashton Sanders as Jimmy Palmer
Darrell Britt-Gibson as Bobby Rush

 

***SPOILER ALERT***

Gasoline on the Fire

Today I'm alone here 😢 — from what I have heard, Krasnaya fell asleep during the film. So here goes my short review. Judas and the Black Messiah is another movie that comes to add more gasoline to the fire. The fire is my hate for the US government, its corrupted agencies and capitalist cronies. Unbelievable movie I have to say, truly unbelievable. I'm still quite furious coming out of this experience, and also inspired to learn more about the Black Panther movement. This is one of the reasons I love good cinema. It opens the doors to books and makes you wanna kill! Just kidding. 👀

The goal of the capitalist.

Two Powerhouses: Kaluuya and Stanfield

I was very happy to find these 2 actors coming together. Daniel Kaluuya, who I know from the awesome horror movie "Get Out" directed by comedian Jordan Peele, and LaKeith Stanfield from a grand favorite of mine "Sorry To Bother You" directed by Boots Riley. These guys were both fantastic in this movie. Kaluuya was inspiring and Stanfield played a perfectly dislikable snitch.

Freddy Hampton 😛

A Story That Will Blow Your Mind

Throughout the movie I came to think that there was a lot of exaggeration and distortion of facts, but it seems that I was mostly wrong according to History Vs Hollywood. Rainbow Coalition? Get out of here! Fred Hampton was truly one of the most dangerous men to the establishment of the USA at that time — a Black socialist with the power to unite very different people through sheer force of words. I guess J. Edgar Hoover was right in a sense when he said the Black Panthers were "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." This is an attention-grabbing movie (except for Krasnaya) with lots of style and captivating characters. And this is just Shaka King's second feature! I will definitely be checking out his first movie "Newlyweeds". If you don't know anything about the Fred Hampton story, your chin is going to drop to the floor by the end. I know you'll want to see real footage afterwards, so look no further than the extra section below. All you need is right there. Until next time, I'm forever alone Freddy and I love you.

Cucu Judas, I see you.

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Extra: Real People, Real History

I know you'll want to go deeper after watching this film — here are the real interviews and documentary footage that inspired the movie.

SHAKA KING INTERVIEW

DANIEL KALUUYA AND LAKEITH STANFIELD TALK ABOUT THE MOVIE

THE MURDER OF FRED HAMPTON DOCUMENTARY (1971)

FRED HAMPTON INTERVIEW 09/10/69

WILLIAM O'NEAL FULL INTERVIEW