#shakaking

The buzz surrounding Judas and the Black Messiah has been massive, so much so to the point that even my father recently asked me if I was hip to it.  It’s odd how COVID-19 and the year 2020 rewired us in ways we didn’t even realize, but I am just now understanding how long it has been since I truly anticipated a movie release date like this one.  With the film falling squarely in the heart of Black History Month and focusing on the sad and tragic death of Fred Hampton, it seemed like a no-brainer to jump into this one at the first opportunity possible.

Despite their intentions to protect and educate their impoverished communities, the Black Panther Party finds themselves targeted by J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen), the F.B.I. and COINTELPRO in an effort to undermine and destroy the group.  After he is caught impersonating an F.B.I. agent in an attempt to steal a car from a Black Panther party member, petty criminal Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) finds himself assigned as an F.B.I. informant tasked with infiltrating the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party in hopes of getting him close to Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) so that he can report back to F.B.I. Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), his handler.  O’Neal quickly finds himself in Hampton’s inner circle, but due to O’Neal’s checkered past interactions with the criminals that the Black Panthers are trying to turn to their side, O’Neal finds himself under intense scrutiny from both sides.  Meanwhile, Hampton begins to make true inroads by uniting Black, White and Puerto Rican groups in Chicago under the banner of erasing oppression, and with each step in the right direction, the F.B.I.-based target on his back grows.

Framing the film as flashbacks and recollections of Bill O’Neal that occur during an interview taping for the very real Eyes on the Prize documentary immediately drives home way that O’Neal is split between two sides of a war on ideals.  O’Neal is literally forced to be two different people depending on whom he is associating with at any given time, and based on this lifestyle, there is never a true moment where we see him at ease or laid-back, which helps root the narrative tension that walks viewers up to the sad and inevitable ending.  All the while, we are also shown just how many irons the F.B.I. had in the fire, to the point that the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.

What really makes the film work is the authenticity in regards to the area and the era in which the film takes place.  Chicago had an infamous history in regards to the Black Panther Party, but the film does a good job of making sure that people understand that the Crowns, the Gangster Disciples and the Black P-Stone Rangers all had just as much influence on the community at the time.  The echoes of the tragedies that beset the Civil Rights Movement are continually brought up in the film, along with several moments focusing on other icons of the Black Panther Party and their current state of affairs.  The way that the movement devolves into chaos, courtesy of the police and F.B.I., helps viewers understand why so many inner-city locations are in the state that they’re still in, and clarifies to those who don’t know how the goal was always to destabilize the disenfranchised.

For a film about such a cold and calculated assassination of a political figure that spoke for the streets, the visual tone is incredibly warm and inviting, and the juxtaposition is stark enough to keep viewers glued to the screen.  It also helps establish the downfall of the party, as the warmness gradually fades form the film, leaving it bathed in blacks and blues.  The film mostly focuses on ideals and political philosophy, but when it finds itself in the realm of action is does not disappoint... the depictions of conflict between the police and the Panthers feel like guerilla warfare in their rawness.  Only the best songs from the era are chosen for the soundtrack, which leaves room for the moving and emotional film score to do it’s job by pulling us into the depths with those struggling to survive and stay afloat.

For the most park, Daniel Kaluuya tends to play reserved and withdrawn characters, and at times he channels this in his performance, but he also proves himself more than capable of achieving the fire, passion and gravitas it takes to portray an iconic leader like Fred Hampton.  Lakeith Stanfield maneuvers through the film like a mouse dancing around traps, trying his best not to be caught while edging closer and closer to springing the demise of his downfall, with all of the paranoia one imagines would come with this set of circumstances.  Jesse Plemons keeps his eyes on the prize (no pun intended) with an unwavering and statuesque dedication to the end game, all the while feigning the least amount of care it takes to convince O’Neal.  Dominique Fishback brings much needed tenderness to the a film full of strife, tension and double-crossing intentions, helping to soften the razor-sharp edginess present.  Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Algee Smith, Jermaine Fowler and Dominique Thorne all step up to the plate and do the Black Panther Party justice in their portrayals of their respective group members.  Martin Sheen brings his stature to the table in his role a J. Edgar Hoover, and supporting appearances by Lil Rel Howery, Robert Longstreet, Terayle Hill, Amari Cheatom, Caleb Eberhardt and Mark Francis fill things out.