On the surface it is Judas and the Black Messiah not what you would call an exciting film. What happened to Fred Hampton should be known to many, and the film also works with a framework story in which William O’Neil, played by Lakeith Stanfield, tells of his experiences in the late eighties. So we know what will or will not happen to the two protagonists at the end of the plot – the film title is also quite telltale in this regard.
The intensity therefore doesn’t come from the audience’s concern that the main character as in Donnie Brasco or The Departed could be blown at any time. Instead, it comes from the inevitable and the helplessness of the characters that they cannot do anything about it. It’s a tragedy that could have been Shakespeare’s, but unfortunately it happened that way in the late sixties.
The film manages the trick of being an undercover story and a portrait of Fred Hampton at the same time, without the narrative flow coming to a standstill. The two main actors play a major role in this. Daniel Kaluuya, whose engagement for the role was criticized for his British origins even before the release, is sensational as Hampton. With his way of speaking and his charisma, he tears Get Out-Star every scene in itself and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role now.
In terms of the game, the complete opposite is shown by Lakeith Stanfield, who embodies O’Neil, who was twisted and manipulated by the FBI. Stanfield likes to express more with his looks than with a thousand words. He doesn’t need a scene in which he looks in a mirror and questions his actions out loud. The actor expresses the struggle with himself, his character, almost in passing. Even in one scene in which he smiles proudly, he triggers sadness in the audience because we can see in his eyes that he has a guilty conscience – and also know what is to come.
Kaluuya and Stanfield are so strong and have the best support from Jesse Plemons as FBI contact and Dominique Fishback as Hamptons friend that the rest of the cast almost go under. When activists are killed or imprisoned, it doesn’t have the same emotional punch as we hardly got to know these characters. But the focus on the eponymous people was necessary, otherwise the film would have been forever long. It’s also a shame how little Hampton and O’Neil really talk to each other in the film. A lot of dramatic potential could have been teased out.
But that’s complaining at a high level. Judas and the Black Messiah is a strong piece of cinema that pays homage to Hampton and also reveals (again) what a horrible bunch the FBI was at the time. More than just worth seeing.
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