COVID-19 Special: 'Judas and the Black Messiah' (15)

Director: Shaka King

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback

Where can I watch?: Judas and the Black Messiah is streaming on HBO Max

Rating: 4/5

Review: I recently read an article that suggested that films, books, polemics and other artforms portraying or discussing racism are only deemed 'vital', 'important' and 'necessary' (add other adjectives as required) when a white critic deems to label them so. Once I read that, I realised how true it was, and how, on this very blog, I have assigned similar adjectives to movies dealing with a subject matter so beyond my experience, and yet so depressingly relevant to others. Before watching Judas and the Black Messiah, I saw the latest episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, in which the host turns his attention to police raids, the vast majority of which are carried out against Black and Latino citizens. It felt chillingly horrific, therefore, to then watch the lethal police raid carried out against Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers in Shaka King's biographical drama. That police raid and the subsequent 99 shots fired by police took place in 1969. The murder of Breonna Taylor, another victim of a police raid, occurred in 2020. Judas and the Black Messiah, therefore, is a film as much about now as it is about the past. Through the eyes of Bill O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), hired by the FBI to infiltrate the Illinois Black Panthers, we see the spectacular rise of young Chairman, Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), on his journey to unite those ostracised by society. It's a taut, tense film that marries powerful, bellowing speeches with quiet moments of tenderness and humour. Each actor pays homage to the elegant script, with Daniel Kaluuya in particular demonstrating his irresistible screen presence and impressive emotional range, his performative rallying cries balanced by moments of stillness. LaKeith Stanfield, too, is excellent, successfully evoking both sympathy and rage in the audience. It's hardly an easy watch, and nor should it be, but I urge you to seek it out.

A COVID-19 Must-Watch?: Absolutely.

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