Movie Review: Judas and the Black Messiah

As far as feature-length directorial debuts go, one would be hard-pressed to identify one as impressive and awe-inspiring as Shaka King’s tour-de-force Judas and the Black Messiah. The film is as effortlessly entertaining as it is mesmerizing at every turn. That, along with outstanding performances from Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield, easily make Judas and the Black Messiah one of the best films of the year.

When career thief, William O’Neal (Stanfield), is apprehended after being caught impersonating a federal agent, he is recruited by the FBI as an informant to infiltrate the Illinois Black Panther Party. There, he is asked to keep a close watch on the group’s leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Kaluuya). Watched over by his FBI handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), O’Neal must come to terms with the path he has been put upon and choose whether to follow through with his assignment and betray his leader and fellow Panthers or follow his heart.

Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield in “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

Director King delivers one of the more amazing debut films in quite some time. It is a testament to the intense drama on display throughout that the film’s two-hour-plus running time is never a factor, yet still manages to deliver as epic and vital story as it does in such a relatively short period of time. Editor Kristan Sprague deftly intertwines various story threads to interconnect a through line without sacrificing any details or weight of the events unfolding as the film moves on. Similarly, the work of cinematographer Mark Isham gives the film an early 1970s feeling yet still anchors it in a more, hopefully, woke early-twenty-first century.

In addition to the stellar work from Kaluuya, Stanfield holds his own as the proverbial “Judas” as he teeters on the precipice of betrayal to save his own skin. Likewise, there is hardly a non-impressive performance throughout the film. Even characters that come and go with regularity in short intervals, like Martin Sheen as J. Edgar Hoover, are astounding to watch and easily encapsulate either the vile or heroic nature of their character as each scene demands.

In times, such as these, that have already seen divisiveness and loss of civility between fellow American, Judas and the Black Messiah is a film that illustrates that hope is never extinguished, even if the flame is, since an ember still burns somewhere beneath the surface, just waiting to be ignited.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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