Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

Once again, I run the risk of being controversial, in being less than favourable about Spike Lee, but whilst watching Judas And The Black Messiah, I couldn't help but being thankful that it wasn't directed by the aforementioned Lee. Shaka King, in only his second directorial feature, has produced one of 2021's finest features. King tells the true story of William O'Neal, a petty criminal who avoids jail time by agreeing to an FBI plea deal. His job is to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther party and gather intelligence on Fred Hampton, the chairman. While King should have been up for best director, and while the film works on pretty much every level, a large portion of the credit should be apportioned to LaKeith Stanfield as O'Neil, who captures the pain and suffering of O'Neal's torrid ordeal astoundingly. An Oscar for O'Neill would have been welcome, but I cannot impress upon everyone enough how astonishing Daniel Kaluuya is as Fred Hampton. He tears up the screen every time he is on it, and accompanied by a terrific performance by Dominique Fishback as his partner, making every inch of the film believable. The reason I mention Spike Lee, is that I feel like his style wouldn't have worked with this at all, and would have drawn you out of the story with real life footage or unsubtle messages. King uses footage briefly at the end of the film, but there's nothing to ram down your throat here. The emotional hit of the ending is impressive enough, but King's use of the real life footage applied here forces feelings within you very much to the surface, whether you know the story or not. Film making of the highest order. 8.2/10