FILM REVIEW: "JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH" IS A MASTERPIECE
Judas and the Black Messiah is a compelling and powerful story - how powerful? My girlfriend cried all the way home and I considered changing my entire career path. Black Messiah will break your heart and offer no condolences. It firmly states: What are you going to do about this?
As we live through the largest civil rights movement in recent history, it's important to remember that the struggle for racial equality has always been a bloody and unfair battle. Judas and the Black Messiah follows the true story of Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluyaa in a powerhouse performance), the leader of the Chicago Black Panther Party, whose powerful presence draws the FBI's attention. Labelling the Black Panther Party a terrorist organisation, and placing an informant amongst his ranks, Hampton and The Panthers face immeasurable challenges in their quest for equality.
You'd be forgiven for expecting director Shaka King to be a seasoned professional with numerous Best Picture Winners under his belt already, but Judas and the Black Messiah is his first major motion feature.
King has delivered an incredibly complete film, with all the hallmarks of nuanced and professional filmmaking, years in the making. This level of excellence and professionalism has become a rather benign quality in recent major releases, which makes Black Messiah all the more powerful. Shaka King is already at the top of his game, it's exhilarating to think where he may excel from hereon. King knows every move, every glance and every turn, creating a visceral and honest film that's as important as it is harrowing. Inarguably, Black Messiah may be one of the most important films of our generation.
Basked in a constant state of despair and anxiousness, Black Messiah documents just how inhumanely the police and government ostracized the Black community. In some of the films bleakest moments, scenes of brutality range from tear-jerking to full-on horror. Black Messiah shakes the audience, tears, screams and shivers.
Daniel Kaluyaa (Get Out, Widows) arguably gives the best performance of his career (he's yet to give a bad one). Hampton comes to life on screen, holding the audience captive as he delivers humble, passionate and driving speeches. Maintaining a calm demeanour in the face of persecution and death, Hampton’s legacy lives and breathes through Kaluyaa’s performance. LaKeith Stanfield's (Sorry to Bother You, Atlanta) portrayal of FBI informant William O'Neal is fantastic and challenging. Stanfield’s nuanced performance of a man caught in a web of lies is tragic and frustrating (in the best of ways). O'Neal was coerced into performing horrific betrayals against Hampton and the Panthers, Stanfield shows this inner-turmoil with utmost clarity. O'Neal worked at the behest of Agent Roy Mitchell, portrayed by the ever-fantastic Jesse Plemons (Fargo, Breaking Bad), whose calm demeanour makes his callous actions even colder.
Alongside the main players are a fantastic ensemble of characters, performed to wits-end by Dominique Fishback, Martin Sheen, Ashton Sanders and numerous others who all deserve singular praises for their incredible performances.
Haunting, dazzling and dizzying; the vibrant Chicago City and it's pavement neighbourhoods are captured beautifully by cinematographer Sean Bobbit (12 Years a Slave, Shame), whose eager eye knows exactly what to show and when, Black Messiah is a film that constantly looks good and shows exactly what you need to see. The incredible cinematography is paired with a noir-ish soundtrack by Craig Harris and Mark Isham that induces a whole new wave of anxiety. Trumpets and saxophone echo through the streets, chasing the web of lies with musical wails.
With incredible acting, masterclass directing, beautiful cinematography, a haunting soundtrack, and much more, Judas and the Black Messiah is a masterpiece in every regard. It will tear you to pieces like few films can. Black Messiah actively pushes the audience to make a change, to address the past and push with all your might for a brighter future. It's fundamental viewing in these times. In many respects, Judas and the Black Messiah feels much larger than just a film, and dare I say, it is.
