Judas and the Black Messiah
2021, drama, history
125 minutes
Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panthers on the orders of FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton ascends—falling for a fellow revolutionary en route—a battle wages for O’Neal’s soul.
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By other critics
10
2021-02-26
This is unmissable cinema. Run don't walk to catch this in the cinema. Read more
9.0
2021-04-24
It is still just April, but, at the time of writing, it is easily the best film of the year in large part thanks to the memorable performances given by Kaluuya, Fishback, and Stanfield. Read more
9.0
2021-02-26
Judas and the Black Messiah is excellent and an early favorite here in 2021. Its cultural significance certainly resonates today and the approach taken by Shaka King and his team is much welcome when compared to filmmakers like Spike Lee and Jordan Peele. Read more
9.0
2021-02-10
The film never feels like a biopic. The rendering is far more crime thriller, and had this been a simple fictional account of a mole in a political organization, King’s film would have been riveting. Performances alone would have elevated the genre beats. Read more
8.8
David McGinnis of Fellowship of the Screen
2021-02-26
Kaluuya has demonstrated his range and intensity in Get Out and Widows, but this ought to launch him into the stratosphere — and onto the Oscar stage, if there is any justice.
8.0
2021-04-21
Both of them deliver outstanding performances, and Kaluuya has already picked up the BAFTA. Kaluuya demonstrates a huge amount of energy and charisma, particularly during the delivery of his stirring speeches. But Stanfield delivers a superbly nuanced performance, and perhaps impressed me even more. Read more
8.0
2021-02-12
Director Shaka King and his co-writer Will Berson have penned and lensed an appropriately audacious feature film debut that deserves reverence and reaction. Read more
8.0
2021-02-11
The many nuanced supporting roles are comparably balanced against a backdrop of violence and betrayal, with emotional reflection remaining potent when alternated with brutality, underdog revolutionary causes, and looming tragedies. Read more
8.0
2021-02-04
The bravura performances from the entire cast and flawless direction by Shaka King... Read more
7.3
Jeremy Lebens of The Daily Rotation
2021-02-13
Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah is an eye-opening look at the betrayal of Black Panthers Chairman Fred Hampton by an FBI informant. Stars LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya give compelling performances in a film that's not just about fighting "the man" or taking down "the system", but instead about how we all become a cog in the never-ending machine of power and injustice.
7.0
2021-02-22
On occasion, the film vacillates in terms of energy, but then we find spots where everything gets vibrant and trenchant again. The two indissiociable sides of the movement are clearly outlined - the activism against racial oppression and the armed wing as a response to unjust conditions and deliberate aggressions. Read more
5.0
2021-03-12
With so many issues, most of them oddly self-inflicted, Judas and the Black Messiah works neither as a historical biopic nor a thriller. It doesn’t have the character depth to function as the former, and it fails as the latter because the people involved don’t slot into conventional protagonist and antagonist roles. Read more
In other languages
8.0
2021-09-14
Judas and the Black Messiah is een opwindende verfilming van historische gebeurtenissen. Read more
8.0
2021-06-16
Judas and the Black Messiah is een opwindende verfilming van historische gebeurtenissen. Read more
6.0
2021-04-28
Judas & the Black Messiah ligt in het verlengde van andere historische films over zwarte figuren zoals Detroit & Selma. Ons hart deed het weliswaar niet sneller kloppen, spijtig genoeg. Read more
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