Judas and the Black Messiah

The Black Panther Party were a black power political/criminal organization that was founded in October 1966 and existed until 1982. Adopting a Marxist-Leninist mindset, the party was active in a lot of major American cities and wished to challenge the excessive violence enacted by the Oakland Police Department and advocated for class struggle. Although the party did allegedly partake in criminal activities like extortion and drug dealing during their later decline, they also helped create community health clinics along with various social and educational programs including the Free Breakfast for Children Program, and were heavily criminalized by the FBI through an illegal covert counterintelligence program that was designed specifically to undermine them and plant reasons for the police to arrest members. They were a very complicated group who still to this day can’t be specifically labelled as fully righteous or fully monstrous, but said uncertain moral leanings would provide for a great movie, which was taken advantage of in 2021 by Judas and the Black Messiah. In 1968, after being arrested for attempting to steal a car while impersonating a federal officer, 19-year-old William O’Neal (played by a 31-year-old LaKeith Stanfield) is tasked by FBI special agent, Roy Mitchell (played by Jesse Plemons) with infiltrating the Black Panther Party as a member in order to get close to its leader, Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya) who is seen by many in the FBI, especially Director J. Edgar Hoover (played by Martin Sheen) as the biggest threat to America. After growing close to Hampton, O’Neal watches the party attempt to improve their standings by outreaching to other organizations as a means of improving the community, all the while continuing to provide the FBI with the information needed to take them down, sometimes resulting in more aggressive tactics than necessary. Despite Mitchell’s seemingly unbiased reasoning for wanting to disrupt the Panthers, interacting with the team eventually causes O’Neal to feel extreme guilt as well as fear of what will happen if he’s caught, leading up to the crucial moment when he is tasked with drugging Hampton so that the Black Panthers can be removed effective immediately. Even though it failed to make its money back at the box office due to releasing during the COVID-pandemic (only earning a measly $7 million worldwide against its $26 million budget), the film was lauded by critics and audiences, earning high praise for its performances, direction and relevant themes, even managing to snag a few Oscar nominations (with Kaluuya even winning for Best Supporting Actor). Though it didn’t make a splash at release, the passage of time has been kind to this movie, with many considering it to be one of the best films of 2021.

Constructing a story around the Black Panthers was going to be a complex situation, as it would require a lot of tiptoeing around both the truthful and the controversial aspects, which became so intertwined that it became hard to properly judge them. In many ways, they seemed to represent the ideology that other infamous black political activist, Malcolm X, preached in his earlier years with his strong status against anti-aggression when it came to tackling racism, and this mindset within the group and the moral question of whether or not it was justifiable, is a great idea for a story, but in spite of certain morally grey attitudes, it seemed like they genuinely wanted to improve the livelihood of those who worked with them, be they black men and women, or even those from different ethnicities (Fred Hampton helped form the Rainbow Coalition,  a prominent multicultural organization that included the Black Panthers, Young Patriots (which organized poor whites), and the Young Lords (which organized Hispanics), so his goal wasn’t just to support one group of people). Much like other biopics about difficult topics, it would need to be handled with an element of care, respect, and authenticity in order to effectively portray to its audience the true purpose of its message. For the most part, the film does manage this quite well, with a great directing job by relative newcomer Shaka King, who captures the appropriate grit and unique vocabulary and attitude of the time period and its characters, while still remembering to feel unique, sparky, and active in its presentation and never feel too dull and generic looking. With director, Ryan Coogler, acting as a producer, it shows that there was a level of faith behind King from a directing and writing standpoint, as he along with fellow writers, Will Berson, Kenneth Lucas and Keith Lucas, do a good enough job collaborating this entire true event in a way that is informative and still effective as a cinematic picture. Getting to see the perspective of the Black Panthers through a lens that isn’t entirely one-note and stuck in a ”good versus evil” viewpoint is refreshing, and the honest truth does paint light on the obvious but still prominent issues that surrounded the time period, establishing how some of these people didn’t have any other choice than to take certain violent approaches to get what they wanted, which is heartbreaking and wrong. Now with that said, the movie does carry with it some typical problems that would be expected from this kind of expansive biopic, like how despite the pace being effective for a two-hour movie, does sacrifice in-depth analysis for a more fast-paced clip-notes overview of the things that occurred. Major incidents go by pretty quickly, and the main story-thread of this individual acting as a spy for both sides, feel pretty constructed and even a little fabricated rather than as truthful as it should feel. It’s the part of the script that feels more traditional Hollywood than genuine, which stands out in a movie like this that does a nice job at feeling pretty real and not that much like a cinematic portrayal.

While the directing and writing is quite effective at keeping things engaging while also adding in the sprinkle of truth to make it feel more impactful, the film’s strongest element comes from its actors and how effortlessly committed they are to these roles. Some like Dominique Fishback, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rey Howery, and Dominique Thorne aren’t given much depth and only exist to get certain scenes moving, but their performances and how they carry themselves makes you truly believe they actually are in this time period and era of history. Again, it’s hard to effectively gage how truly authentic this film is overall, as the Panthers in this seem to have zero negative spots on them outside of hinted torture in the background and aggressive ideals (maybe a stronger highlight of their ”less than favorable” components could’ve made the argument a little more effective), but it was cool seeing the good that they wanted to achieve and even in some respects, actually got across. It’s true that most of the white characters are pretty rudimentary and don’t offer much of a new insight into that time period, as both Jesse Plemons and especially Martin Sheen more so feel like collective examples of mindsets rather than actual people, but the trade-off is that a lot of the main roles are pretty strong. The movie almost seems confused on who the lead character is, as it switches between LaKeith Stanfield’s character and Fred Hampton pretty frequently (even the Academy Awards conflicted on who was Leading and who was Supporting), which does cause some issues as the film keeps going as the two don’t effectively share screen-time, and rather seem to take it away from the other. LaKeith Stanfield as the mole feels like a pretty straightforward role that doesn’t have a lot going for it, and the character doesn’t really feel like he forms a connection with Hampton or any of the other Panthers, so the final result doesn’t feel as deserved, but Stanfield himself is still pretty good in the role and his best moments are when he has to flip flop between a dedicated follower and a kid just trying to not get caught. The true standout however is Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton. For an actor that hasn’t been showcased a lot, he’s proven his capabilities time and time again in several projects, and in this film, he really embodies this devoted leader so effectively through his mannerisms, voice, and demeanor that it’s honestly a little confronting. You genuinely want to listen to him when he talks and totally buy his comments in the process, speaking in a fashion that feels more hypnotizing and rawer than others who have played very similar roles countless times over. It’s a really strong performance that was totally deserving of that Oscar win.

The movie’s aesthetics and visuals give off a clean, glossy vibe that could very easily go against the film’s more aggressive and 1960s atmosphere, but the production design by Sam Lisenco actually does a nice job looking good while still getting across the mean, ugly side of this time period. The cinematography by Sean Bobbitt feels well laid-out and constructed in a way that makes even the simplest thing look impressive and visual pleasing, the lighting is always well framed and even distinctly orchestrated in a degree that’s pretty cool, the costume design done by Charlese Antoinette Jones feels very time appropriate and has a lot of character, and even the portrayal of the actors brings a whole new kind of element to what could’ve been played as a pretty straight presentation. Sometimes the over saturated colors and angles give off a vibe that’s almost films noir-like, and even some of the characters can sometimes feel a little cartoonish in nature and attitude, but it never feels like it exists outside of reality, but rather a window into the way people looked, felt, and acted in this period. The musical score composed by Mark Isham and Craig Harris also matches this kind of idea, as instead of creating a more traditional score that doesn’t feel noticeable and only adds ambiance, the film provides a 1950 or 60s jazz sound that abruptly has jolts of stirring chaotic intrusions, making everything feel classy, but with an edge that says anything could go wrong at any moment. It’s not used much, but when it is, it is memorable and keeps people on high alert at all times.

Judas and the Black Messiah is a captivating period piece that gives further context into a political group that was fighting against a system that wished for them to fail and did everything in their power (whether legal or not) to do so, and while that is a tale as old as time, the method in which it is delivered this time around is very effective. It is a shame that the movie came out during the pandemic which resulted in it flopping at the box office, but through critical reception, its choice Oscar nominations (as well as win), and its impressive word of mouth, it feels like everybody involved with the project can walk out satisfied and are definitely talented enough to go onto future projects. Certain elements about the story and characters could be improved upon and the movie doesn’t really show some of the more questionable dealings the party took part in which does make some of the moral quandary that would’ve been a factor around that time not as questionable, but with solid directing, great acting, and impressive visuals and atmosphere, this one is a history lesson worth paying attention to.