Judas and the Black Messiah Review

    Hey everyone welcome back to Silver Screen Spectacle. We got another new review with Judas and the Black Messiah. This film follows the true story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his eventual betrayal by an FBI informant. You can find the film in theaters or streaming on HBO Max for 30 days.

     Daniel Kaluuya gives an outstanding performance. While there were a few times I struggled to understand what he was saying with the accent, it’s accurate to the actual life, man. Also, might’ve just been sound in cinema was a bit off as I got used to it. Whenever his character was giving a speech, it captivated me. LaKeith Stanfield also gives a fantastic performance. He was great at selling the vulnerability and fear of his character. Jesse Plemons does splendid work, but he’s not doing anything I haven’t seen him do in tons of other films. Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Daniel Britt-Gibson, and Dominique Thorn all do incredible work in their supporting roles. Dominique Fishback I thought was fine, to be honest. I heard a lot of praise for her work and she’s not at all bad, but her and Kaluuya’s romance didn’t feel natural to me. 

    Shaka King is the director here, and the co-writer with Will Berson. The directing is phenomenal, it reminded me a lot of Scorsese but still his own style. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film with shootouts that had this much punch. The script is magnificent but has a few issues. There are two main plotlines, one following Stanfield and Kaluuya, and then the romance I mentioned earlier between Fishback and Kaluuya. There is also a subplot showing scenes from the FBI’s perspective. While I was never bored, it riveted me when we were following Stanfield and Kaluuya’s dominant story. The romance just never felt natural to me, though it is important to the overall story. While the FBI scenes were well done, they threw off the pacing, especially at the film’s midway point. I also wish the film had gone on a little longer so the credits didn’t have to summarize so much. The musical score struck me off guard at first, but I fell in love with it quickly as it helped build the increasingly tense atmosphere. At 126 minutes, despite my issues, the film flew by.

    So, overall, I found Judas and the Black Messiah to be a brilliant film with some powerful moments to make up for my flaws. This is my favorite movie of the year so far, and my favorite of the awards films from this season I’ve seen. So, guys, that’s it for this review, if you liked it, give it a share and let me know yall’s thoughts on the film in the comments. See you guys next time.

8.5/10