Judas and the Black Messiah: Bop or Flop?

*image from parlemag.com

Historical Drama, 2 hr 6 min, R

Director: Shaka King

Producer: Ryan Coogler

Cinematographer: Sean Bobbitt

What’s it about? Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Bop or Flop? This was a FILM. A tough one albeit, but it is a BOP. The casting was top tier. What LaKeith Stanfield (O’Neal) and Daniel Kaluuya (Hampton) did in this film was called ACTING. If I had any doubts about a non-American Black actor playing an iconic Black figure, Daniel laid them to rest. His resume is top tier and full of diverse, chilling performances. LaKeith is also an extremely talented actor, able to play anything from a hood nig to a White man controlling a black man’s body.

From the opening shots of the film, I knew I was watching something of value. The directorial/cinematic decisions are important and nostalgic, which makes for a perfect feel for the film. Though there was some controversy in choosing to tell the story from the lens of Bill O’Neal, the FBI informant whose snitchery led to Hampton’s death, I think telling the story from his perspective is an interesting angle, and given the history of this country, an important insight.

O’Neal being pimped out by the FBI allows us to see that there are so few options for Black Americans to escape the horrors of the criminal justice system, especially at that time. This does not at all justify O’Neal’s part in Hampton’s death, but it does allow us to see the lengths of what the feds will do to accomplish their agenda. In this case, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover decided early on that the Black Panthers were not only terrorists, but that Hampton was a rising "Black Messiah" that needed to be taken out.

*image from kalb.com

Even FBI agent Roy Mitchell believed that the Panthers were the equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan. It’s funny how the KKK is still around, yet the Black Panthers were intentionally targeted, infiltrated, and disbanded by the FBI.

The film provides further evidence for the overall problem with the criminal justice system and the FBI's successes in dissolving Black Freedom movements, while giving the audience a glimpse as to how systemic racism and capitalism are intrinsically linked. The film could’ve gone much deeper into Hampton’s politics, about why capitalism is bad for all of us, and what socialism could mean for America, but the humanization of the Black Panther Party is still a major accomplishment of the film. The Panthers are often depicted as militant and violent, but in reality they were much more nuanced, as they created free meal programs, gave back to their communities, and advocated for Black liberation.

Judas and the Black Messiah should be nominated for an excess of awards, for the acting, the screenplay, and the direction/cinematography. However, I would not be surprised if Hollywood fails to acclaim the film as much as it deserves.

This movie is a must see, especially during Black History Month.

Judas and the Black Messiah was released Feb. 12, 2021 in theaters and on HBO Max.