‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Review: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield Bring Fred Hampton’s Betrayal to Life

Shaka King’s tale of the Black Panthers and the FBI is shockingly radical, particularly for a major-studio movie

Judas and the Black Messiah
Glen Wilson/WB

A movie about a not so distant past that speaks directly to the present, director Shaka King’s blazing sophomore feature “Judas and the Black the Messiah” — premiering at Sundance and coming to theaters and HBO Max later this month — is a radical work on the final days of Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, made within the not-so-daring apparatus of a Hollywood studio. That it was conceived within those creative walls and still breathes freely as non-conformist art makes it all the more invigorating.

Preaching armed revolution over placating reform, Hampton (here embodied by Daniel Kaluuya) skipped sugarcoated platitudes.

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