You can tell by watching the trailer for “Judas & The Black Messiah” that they tried to capture the current zeitgeist in the editing. It all makes for a powerfully driven trailer. But is the movie any good? We won’t know that until its 2021.
Tackling the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party, “Judas and the Black Messiah” tells the true account of the architect behind not just the assembling the violence against police, but the community service that was instilled by that particular chapter of the infamous black resistance group.
This is only the second film for director Shaka King, after 2013’s “Newlyweeds,.” he also wrote the screenplay alongside Will Berson, with additional help from Kenny and Keith Lucas (the “22 Jump Street” twins). Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”) and LaKeith Stanfield (“Atlanta”) star alongside Jesse Plemons (“The Irishman” & “Fargo”), Dominique Fishback (“The Hate U Give” & “The Deuce”), and Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”). Martin Sheen is also FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover.
Here’s the synopsis:
In 1968, a young, charismatic activist named Fred Hampton became Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality and the slaughter of Black people. Chairman Fred was inspiring a generation to rise up and not back down to oppression, which put him directly in the line of fire of the government, the FBI and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, they had to do it from both the outside…and the inside. Facing prison, William O’Neal is offered a deal by the FBI: if he will infiltrate the Black Panthers and provide intel on Hampton, he will walk free. O’Neal takes the deal. Now a comrade in arms in the Black Panther Party, O’Neal lives in fear that his treachery will be discovered even as he rises in the ranks. But as Hampton’s fiery message draws him in, O’Neal cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his ultimate betrayal.
Distributed by Warner Bros, “Judas and the Black Messiah” is currently set for a TBD 2021 release.