Max Fisher brings us the Judas and the Black Messiah movie review.
by Max Fisher
Judas and the Black Messiah does a masterful job of giving the audience a sense of extreme tension at any given moment
A Welcome Departure from Run-of-the-Mill Hollywood Storytelling
The 60s were perhaps the most turbulent time in American History due to civil unrest at a level that the country had never seen before. By the late 60s, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King had died extensively halting the civil rights movement in its tracks. What took its place was a more militant approach to the civil rights issues King had fought for. Still, the outlook and overall approach toward the subject veered more towards Malcolm X. The Panthers were the inevitable next step amongst all the turmoil of the 60s. By nature, The Panthers are an incredibly divisive topic to approach in America even today, making it so surprising that a major studio even made a film like Judas and the Black Messiah. Nevertheless, the film is a riveting tale of struggle and choosing one’s loyalties. If you don’t mind the overall political pressure cooker, the film is inherently in. You’ll find a more than solid drama ahead of you.
Apart from being a taut thriller of loyalty, the film has a strong emotional core
When William O’Neill (Atlanta’s LaKeith Stanfield, Sorry To Bother You) gets picked up by the FBI after a botched con job, he is given a choice by his arresting officer Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons, Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights) of either a stint in jail or infiltrating The Black Panther party’s most prominent chapter run by the charismatic young leader Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out, Queen And Slim). Hampton tries to amass support from all the different people and gangs of Chicago hoping and eventually succeeding in creating the rainbow coalition to protect their neighborhoods. Fearing that Hampton will garner too much influence. J. Edger Hoover pressures his subordinates to thrust O’Neill in a position where he can gain Hampton and his fellow Panthers’ trust. After an admittedly bumpy start due to his aloof ways he eventually does so, and is even christened with the nickname Wild Bill (his undercover name being Bill) due to his seemingly brash decision-making. Thus attaining rank in the organization—at the same time, providing them with tools and aid given to him by the FBI without them knowing.
Apart from being a taut thriller of loyalty, the film has a strong emotional core with Hampton and his girlfriend, Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback, The Deuce, Project Power) slowly progressing in their relationship. She’s not merely some girl waiting on the sidelines for her man to put her into the fray, but rather a critical person that helps Hampton turn into a true leader with his words. Early on in the film, Hampton is giving a speech with his rhetoric coming off so incendiary that some of the crowd decided to leave. After the Speech, Deborah approaches Hampton and tells him that he can spread his message better if he articulates it with more thought, instead of just being in the moment and saying whatever he feels at that particular moment. This action is the first step for Hampton, from being a fiery public speaker to a master orator.
A Sense of Foreboding
The film is told almost entirely from Williams’s point of view. His being on both sides gives the audience the same feeling he has, that of having your head filled up by two radically different ideologies. The FBI, led under J Edger Hoover’s vice grip, instructs its agents and, by extension Williams himself, that the panthers are public enemy number one. They are the worst threat to the American way of life there is. By contrast, Williams sees firsthand that The Panthers in Hampton’s chapter help their community by educating children, setting up free breakfast programs for those same impoverished children, and spreading a message of self-reliance. The juxtaposition between the two viewpoints gives the audience and Williams a sense of extreme tension at any given moment.
The film, in general, is very tense. The picture focuses on a lot of close-ups giving the sense that every moment is of utter importance. That this is an extremely volatile time and nothing is certain. The percussion and jazz score accentuates this feeling with driving percussion pressing forward during action scenes, and loud horn swells during emotional moments; this, coupled with the urban decay of Chicago as the story’s setting, gives a complete picture of what an impoverished community in that time and place had to face. As well as why they fought so hard to make it better. It’s never outwardly said that these people live in less than ideal circumstances, but the cinematography does such an excellent job of subtlety highlighting this point that uttering any words to the matter would be nothing short of overkill.
Some would like the memory of the Black Panthers to be expunged from history altogether. But like it or not, Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party are a part of American History
Daniel Kaluuya plays Hampton with a lot of confidence but never overly so. He’s a man that believes 100% in his convictions, but he’s not unshakable. He’s still just a man with a remarkable ability to articulate to the people. Burdened by responsibility but never overwhelmed by it.
On the other hand, LaKeith Stanfield plays Williams as strictly reactionary, which works given his predicament, but one can’t help asking if the real Williams had a bit more agency to move how he wanted. Panthers will forever be debated as to what they invisibly achieved and what damage they caused when it was all said and done. They will never be taught in any classroom. Some would like their memory to be expunged from History altogether. But like it or not, Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party are a part of American History. With such a turbulent history behind them, perhaps the best way to get a foothold on what The Panthers and, by extension, Fred Hampton meant is through films such as Judas and the Black Messiah. As long as those behind the camera care enough to do their research (like those that made this film have), then maybe just maybe some truth will shine through, or at the very least open up civil dialogue as to their lasting impact and legacy.
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