Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
February 14, 2021 8:42 AM - Subscribe
The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O'Neal.
‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Review: I Was a Panther for the F.B.I. [NYT]
‘Judas and the Black Messiah’: Shaka King’s Movie Wrestles With the History of Black Power [Rolling Stone]
Shaka King Goes to Hollywood [NYT]
Judas and the Black Messiah and the Black Excellence Industrial Complex [GQ]
Watch Lakeith Stanfield Being Interrogated in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ [NYT Anatomy of a Scene]
The Judas and the Black Messiah Costumes Were Inspired by Vintage GQ and Archival Footage [GQ]
‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Review: I Was a Panther for the F.B.I. [NYT]
‘Judas and the Black Messiah’: Shaka King’s Movie Wrestles With the History of Black Power [Rolling Stone]
Shaka King Goes to Hollywood [NYT]
Judas and the Black Messiah and the Black Excellence Industrial Complex [GQ]
Watch Lakeith Stanfield Being Interrogated in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ [NYT Anatomy of a Scene]
The Judas and the Black Messiah Costumes Were Inspired by Vintage GQ and Archival Footage [GQ]
This was really well-done, and well-acted. It's interesting, of course - and part of how the movie industry works - that it takes the narrative hook of the undercover informant to tell the story of Fred Hampton.
posted by mistersix at 10:30 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]
posted by mistersix at 10:30 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]
Lakeith Stanfield is astonishingly good in this, with about six different emotions flickering across his face in two seconds. Really, every actor is so good, Jesse Plemons playing the Good Guy Doing the Right Thing, but it's so clear that the FBI is an organization propped up by violence, including violence on teenage black boys (which is what Fred Hampton and Bill O'Neal were when this story began). He and Martin Sheen made my skin crawl, upholding the status quo. Domnique Fishback is quietly magnetic, Daniel Kaluuya entirely believable and inspiring. Shaka King directed this with such restraint, and it's so powerful.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:39 PM on February 18 [2 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 10:39 PM on February 18 [2 favorites]
Finding the Judas in Judas and the Black Messiah: The Lucas Brothers explain how their story of Fred Hampton came to be about William O’Neal. [Vulture]
The Light of Dominique Fishback: Who but a poet could deliver a performance like this? [The Cut]
posted by ellieBOA at 4:59 AM on February 21
The Light of Dominique Fishback: Who but a poet could deliver a performance like this? [The Cut]
posted by ellieBOA at 4:59 AM on February 21
Another interview with Dominique Fishbank in the NYT, I’m so impressed she wrote the poem she reads to Daniel Kaluuya.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:52 PM on February 21
posted by ellieBOA at 10:52 PM on February 21
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

posted by ellieBOA at 8:43 AM on February 14 [3 favorites]