Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

As the title suggests, this biopic of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton frames his story through the lens of the betrayal of Jesus story, right down to the pieces of silver. This tale focuses on an FBI informant who becomes close to Hampton and then betrays him. I believe this is indie director King's first "big" Hollywood movie and it's a strong debut -- bold, unwaivering, and gorgeously filmed. 

Stanfield has been an actor I've been following for a while and he seems ready to break out of the character roles he's been mostly playing. Here he gives a tremendous performance as the titular Judas, real life informant Bill O'Neil, a complicated, conflicted character who is tortured by his own actions. Like the Judas of the Bible his story is a tragedy of his own making and Stanfield is amazing in this role. Kaluuya as Hampton brings a powerful energy to the leader as well as a very human vulnerability. Both do some of their best work so far.

So much of Judas is as relevant today as it was in Hampton's time. There is a moment King has a character lay out the philosophy that "both sides are the same" - that the Klan and the Panthers are the same - and it's clearly an indictment of this sort of thinking, a kind of thinking that permeates so much of American culture today, the way white supremacy continues to be legitimized by falsely equating efforts to resist it. Judas holds a spotlight up to that idea and tears it down. 

King's mirroring of the Bible story with the true story of one of US history's leaders is both a provocative take that casts US history in a way that many audiences won't be comfortable with, and that is a big part of why it is so successful. His beautiful, wonderfully acted film is an indictment of both what happened and what continues to happen. 

Judas and the Black Messiah

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LakeithStanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Martin Sheen

Director: Shaka King

Writers: Will Berson, Shaka King