Taglines: You can kill a revolutionary but you can’t kill the revolution.
Judas and the Black Messiah Movie Storyline. In 1968, 19-year-old petty criminal Bill O’Neal is arrested in Chicago after attempting to steal a car while posing as a federal officer. He is approached by FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell, who offers to have O’Neal’s charges dropped if he works undercover for the bureau. O’Neal is assigned to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and its leader, Fred Hampton.
O’Neal begins to grow close to Hampton, who works to form alliances with rival gangs and militia groups while extending community outreach through the BPP’s Free Breakfast for Children Program. Hampton’s persuasive oratory skills eventually help to form the multiracial Rainbow Coalition. Hampton also falls in love with Deborah Johnson, a fellow BPP member. O’Neal begins to relay intel to Mitchell, who in return compensates him with money.
After Hampton is arrested and imprisoned for allegedly stealing $71 worth of ice cream bars, O’Neal begins to rise through the ranks and is promoted to security captain. When a shootout between the Chicago Police and the BPP occurs at the chapter office, O’Neal sneaks out as the office is bombed by the police. Outraged that he could have been killed himself, O’Neal attempts to quit being an informant but is rejected by Mitchell.
Three months later, Hampton is released from prison while appealing his charges and he reunites with Deborah, now pregnant with his child. A BPP member, Jimmy Palmer, who was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries after being shot by a police officer, dies unexpectedly while being transferred to another hospital. Assuming police have murdered Jimmy, fellow member Jake Winters engages in a shootout with police, killing several officers before being gunned down himself.
Judas and the Black Messiah is a 2021 American biographical drama film about the betrayal of Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, by William O’Neal (played by Lakeith Stanfield), an FBI informant. Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne, and Martin Sheen also star. The film is directed and produced by Shaka King, who wrote the screenplay with Will Berson, based on a story by the pair and Kenny and Keith Lucas.
A Fred Hampton biopic had been in the works for several years, with both the Lucas brothers and Will Berson writing and shopping screenplays individually since 2014. Berson’s version almost got made with F. Gary Gray directing, but, when that fell through, King was hired to direct. The cast joined in 2019, with the blessings of Hampton’s family, with filming taking place that fall in Ohio.
Judas and the Black Messiah premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on February 1, 2021, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on February 12, simultaneously in theaters and digitally on HBO Max. The film was lauded by critics, who praised King’s direction, the performances (particularly Kaluuya’s and Stanfield’s), and its timely themes.
The film earned six Oscar nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for both Kaluuya and Stanfield, and won Best Supporting Actor for Kaluuya and Best Original Song (“Fight for You”). For his performance, Kaluuya also won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and BAFTA Awards. Despite the acclaim and accolades the film received, it was a box-office bomb, grossing $7 million dollars worldwide against a budget of $26 million dollars.
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne, Martin Sheen
Screenplay by: Will Berson, Shaka King
Production Design by: Sam Lisenco
Cinematography by: Sean Bobbitt
Film Editing by: Kristan Sprague
Costume Design by: Charlese Antoinette Jones
Set Decoration by: Rebecca Brown, Kara Martinelli White
Art Direction by: Jeremy Woolsey
Music by: Mark Isham, Craig Harris
MPAA Rating: R for violence and pervasive language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 1, 2021 (Sundance), February 12, 2021 (United States)
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