Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

Judas and the Black Messiah is a tense, politically charged historical drama that follows FBI informant William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) as he is recruited to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and monitor its magnetic young leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). Set against the backdrop of the late 1960s and the FBI’s COINTELPRO program, the film traces Hampton’s rapid rise as an organizer who builds unlikely alliances through the Rainbow Coalition, and the moral and psychological unraveling of O’Neal as he balances survival, ambition, and conscience under the pressure of his handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons). Watching the movie, you’ll experience both the exhilaration of Hampton’s electrifying speeches and community work and the mounting dread of a government determined to suppress the movement. The film blends intimate performances (Kaluuya’s incandescent charisma and Stanfield’s conflicted intensity are standouts) with brisk, immersive direction and period detail—music, style, and Chicago’s streets—to create an urgent, lived-in atmosphere. Dominique Fishback’s portrayal of Deborah Johnson adds emotional grounding, and Martin Sheen’s cameo as J. Edgar Hoover underscores the institutional forces arrayed against the Panthers. Tonally, the film is gripping and morally complex: it alternates moments of inspiration and solidarity with suspenseful betrayals and painful consequences. Expect to feel energized by Hampton’s vision, unsettled by the manipulation and surveillance, and moved by the human cost of political struggle. It’s a powerful, provocative portrait of activism, state power, and the fraught choices individuals face when caught between competing loyalties.

Actors: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons

Director: Shaka King

Runtime: 126 min

Genres: Biography, Drama, History

6.5 /10 84 /100 7.4 /10 7.4 /10