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Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) – Movie Review

ByDalton Marshall

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Repeat after me: I AM. A REVOLUTIONARY

After getting caught by the FBI, Bill O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) is offered a deal to infiltrate the Black Panther party to gather intelligence on party chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) instead of going to prison.

Judas and the Black Messiah was released on HBO Max and in theaters Feb. 12. Directed by Shaka King (Newlyweeds, Mulignans), this film falls under the category of historical biography and reminded me a lot of Selma, taking place during the Civil Rights Movement. 

I thought the movie did a great job portraying the tension during this time period and was both informative and entertaining. Before seeing this, I knew very little about the Black Panthers’ movement in Chicago and the lengths J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI was willing to go to stop them.

The story was pretty good, but what made this movie great was the phenomenal acting. LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya shined in their respective roles and really brought this movie up a tier for me. Considering the overall story, I’d probably rate this film 3 ½ stars but I’m going with my initial gut reaction of 4/5 stars thanks to these two.

Daniel Kaluuya Movie GIF by Judas and the Black Messiah

Judas and the Black Messiah would probably not have been a movie I would have gone to the theater to see (especially these days), so I was grateful to have it included with HBO Max. This movie is just one of many movies included with HBO Max that I’m looking forward to seeing this year.


Overall, I liked Judas and the Black Messiah and would rate it 4/5 stars. While I wasn’t dying to see it, I am glad I experienced it and got to learn a little more about what happened. If you have an HBO Max subscription, I’d definitely recommend giving this one a watch to both learn more about the Black Panther movement in Chicago and be entertained at the same time. If not, maybe try out HBO Max free 7-day trial and see what you think. The film is also available at theaters, but make that choice at your own discretion.

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