Judas and the Black Messiah

Summary

“A badge is scarier than a gun.”

This year I decided to take my children to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis to visit the Civil Rights Museum and pay my respects to Martin Luther King Jr. It was a great and humbling experience for the whole family as we literally walked our way through the difficult history that shaped our country and many of the issues that our country still faces. After shedding some tears at the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, we made our way out of the museum. When we returned to Little Rock, the film Judas and the Black Messiah was playing on HBO MAX. I was excited to see the history of black panther Fred Hampton, because my knowledge of Hampton was severely limited. I watched the film that evening while the experience in Memphis was fresh on my mind. I was pretty well blown away by the film. Warner Bros. has now released the film on Blu-ray for purchase.

In 1968, nineteen year old William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) walks into a pool hall wearing a trench coat. He holds up a badge that shows himself to be an FBI agent. He frisks a man and takes his car keys. After attempting to steal the man’s car, he is arrested. While in jail, Bill is approached by FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons.) Mitchell is willing to have the charges dropped against Bill, if Bill is willing to work undercover. Begrudgingly agreeing to the job, Bill is assigned to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party led by the enigmatic Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya.) This is all part of J. Edgar Hoover’s (Martin Sheen) crusade to crush the Black Panther movement and other groups he deemed socialist by any means necessary. Bill manages to prove himself and join the party, putting himself at once in danger from the more militant members of the group that carried weapons. Bill finds himself growing closer to Fred and their friendship develops while Bill continues to feed back information to his handler. As Fred unites rival gangs and militias in the city behind a common purpose, Fred also falls in love with a female poet named Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback.) Bill continues to rise in the ranks of the party, all while carrying out secret orders that eventually lead to ultimate betrayal and a tragic fate for Fred Hampton.

Judas and the Black Messiah is an extraordinary incendiary piece of filmmaking. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, while also realizing with each passing frame of the film that it certainly has an agenda. For myself, the Civil Rights icons that I gravitate towards the most were men like Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali for their ability to show strength without invoking violence. While Malcolm X fascinates me a tremendous amount and Fred Hampton was incredibly interesting, as I get older I don’t think the rhetoric of change should always be a rhetoric that promotes (or tolerates) a mindset of violent resistance. That said, after seeing the way in which the government systematically eliminated Fred Hampton, I can understand why it would feel like violence could be an inherent way of resisting the brutalities that were occurring. I think that watching the film, I had to slightly dissociate from my own beliefs in order to try to fully understand Fred Hampton’s story. Hampton was an enigmatic and thoughtful speaker and a leader of men. It comes across that many of the things he wanted to do were good things. For example, his ability to organize a program which fed poor children in his community breakfast is truly admirable. I admire his determination to stop the brutality and racism that afflicted himself and his fellow man. At the end of the day, my thoughts on these issues are inconsequential to the film itself, which I found to be brilliantly done.

The film is well shot by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. Bobbitt is well known for his work with director Steve McQueen, and he does a beautiful job on the film. For my money, it was probably the best looking film released in the last twelve months. It is a little strange that a film nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, two Best Supporting Actor nominations (more on that in a moment,) and Best Screenplay did not also receive a Best Director knod. Unless I am mistaken, the director works with the cinematographer and actors to create the film as it is seen by the audience. I think the Academy really missed the mark by failing to nominate Shaka King for his work here. I look forward to seeing what projects he tackles next. The film benefits from a well thought out soundtrack with a score by Mark Isham and Craig Harris that only is employed to maximum effect, helping to build dread as the film’s intensity escalates.

LaKeith Stanfield is a very talented actor that I have enjoyed watching in roles since I first saw him in the show Atlanta. He has never been better than he is in the role of William O’Neal. LaKeith brings the misery to the forefront of the pathos of O’Neal, by making the anxiety of the situation play out on his face and in his eyes. The Academy idiotically nominated LaKeith for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, despite the fact that he was the main character in the film and should have been nominated in the Best Actor category. His response on Twitter was hilarious where he replied “I’m confused too but fuck it lmao.” Daniel Kaluuya turned in a career best performance as Fred Hampton and deservedly won the Oscar. He is great in the role and does an admirable job of highlighting the softer side the Black Panther leader. Jesse Plemons is reliably good in everything, and he turns in another enjoyable performance here. The only performance that felt a little overdone in the film was that of Martin Sheen as Hoover, which came across a little too heavily as a caricature.

The script of the film is very well written and manages to condense down a series of historical events accurately into a blistering indictment of what happened to Fred Hampton. The finale is honestly tough to watch and abysmally sad – which is the point. The point of the story is fairly simple – if the government wants you, they can have you. It’s a history lesson that has played out numerous times and should not be looked at through rose colored glasses. The film’s script does not have an ounce of fat on it, with each scene being included for a good reason.

Overall – aside from a few moments that struck me as overreaching or felt a little like propagandizing, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Judas and the Black Messiah. It is one of the best new films that I have seen in over a year and one that begged me to think long and hard. I look forward to when my oldest son is a little bit older so that we can watch this movie together and have a great discussion.

Video

Judas and the Black Messiah has been brought to Blu-ray by Warner Bros. with excellent attention to detail. The film was shot on a 4K digital intermediate using widescreen anamorphic lenses in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. This presentation comes across as 2K. Overall – this is a great looking presentation of the film. Fine detail is excellent and there are no compression artifacts that stood out. The film was shot by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and it ranks as the best cinematography that I saw in the last year. For a Blu-ray, this is the best that the film can look. I hope that we see a 4K UHD of the film on disc in the near future!

Audio

Warner Bros. have done a fairly strange thing and downscaled their Dolby Atmos track to a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. When I watched the film on HBO MAX with Dolby Atmos, I don’t recall it being much different from the presentation here, but it is worth noting that if a 4K UHD is ever released it will surely have the Atmos track. While this decision is a little disappointing, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track sounds great. The music in the film comes across forcefully when present and the surrounds are engaged fairly often. 

Supplements:

• Fred Hampton for the People – director Shaka King, producer Ryan Coogler, co-writers Kenny and Keith Lucas, and actors Lakeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, and Dominique Fishback lend their thoughts on the legacy of Fred Hampton. Also featured in the interviews is Fred’s son.
• Unexpected Betrayal – this piece focuses more on William O. Neal and the betrayal he enacted.

Overall Scores:

Video -5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 2/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Judas and the Black Messiah is an exceptionally well done film. The script is tightly written and does a great job of telling the sad tale of Fred Hampton’s demise and the betrayal that caused it. LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya both turn in exceptional performances. This was easily one of the best films released since the pandemic began, and a highlight of 2021. Warner Bros. have given the film a great looking release on Blu-ray which will remain the definitive physical media release of the film until it (hopefully) receives a release on 4K UHD. Highly recommended.