This Best Picture nominee was one of the Oscar movies I got the jump on this year, even though I’m just putting up my review now. It’s one I was excited about from the first trailer, between the excellent cast and interesting subject matter, and I’m grateful to Warner Bros. for releasing their 2021 slate of films both online and in theaters so I could see it safely. This is an excellent film (premise spoilers.)
When Bill O’Neal is arrested, he’s given a “choice”: rot in jail or work with the FBI. Naturally, the latter option is more appealing to him, and his FBI handler prepares Bill to infiltrate the Black Panthers in Chicago, emphasizing the importance of bringing down these violent, America-hating terrorists. But as Bill gets in deeper with the Panthers, and closer to their local chairman Fred Hampton, he sees a group of people who are, yes, waging a war, but it’s against the police who terrorize their community and the politicians whose policies starve them. He sees the good that Fred and the Panthers do, and his FBI mission quickly becomes at odds what with he’s beginning to believe.
I’ve seen plenty of movies about people involved with law enforcement infiltrating groups of interest – gangster/triad movies like Infernal Affairs or State of Grace, undercover-cop dramas involving actual terrorists like BlacKkKlansman – and this film definitely contains some of the elements common to those movies. The undercover figure starts to see his marks as people, not just suspects, and genuinely befriends them as he gains their trust. The intense fear of discovery, featuring high-suspense moments where the undercover figure needs a potent combination of quick thinking and luck to stay alive. But at the same time, Judas and the Black Messiah is a very different sort of story.
The most obvious difference is that, of course, the Black Panthers may be terrorists in the eyes of the FBI, but that’s not what’s really going on here. Bill’s FBI handler Mitchell highlights the Panthers’ violent acts, but again, the Panthers consider those volleys in the war being waged against them, not unprovoked acts of terrorism, and he ignores the work they do to provide safe places to educate children, feed the hungry, and otherwise serve the community. Bill’s journey here isn’t just about Fred and the other Panthers being humanized in his estimation, it’s about realizing that what they’re fighting for isn’t what he’s been told. The Black Panthers is a group that’s been very misrepresented throughout history, and I like that this film takes care to show the many different sides of them, depicting the many social programs they established as well as the American government’s obsession with destroying them. I also like how it shows Fred’s dedication to creating a multiracial coalition to fight for the betterment of all the people of Chicago.
The other biggest difference is that Bill, the one who’s undercover, isn’t a cop. He’s a CI who was backed into this situation to avoid being sent to jail, and he’s constantly aware of that fact. Mitchell is always quick to remind Bill that, if he doesn’t do what the FBI wants and bring them results, there’s a cell with his name on it. The desperation that led Bill to steal cars is the same desperation that fuels his cooperation, despite his growing misgivings. While the Panthers’ ethos would offer him a way to channel that desperation into solutions, the FBI has him scrabbling just to stay out of the fire. When Bill is initially picked up by Mitchell, it’s telling that his primary tool for jacking cars isn’t a gun but a fake FBI badge – people in Chicago, he explains to Mitchell, fear the badge more than they fear the bullets.
It all comes together in a really gripping film: the open warfare between the Panthers and the police, the FBI’s covert attempts at eroding the organization, Fred’s growing profile in the city and the tug, and pull he feels between the life he wants with his girlfriend Deborah and the duty he feels toward the revolution, with Bill caught in the middle of it all. It’s no surprise that this movie also scored a Best Original Screenplay nod.
Powerful acting from Lakeith Stanfield as Bill and Daniel Kaluuya as Fred. As I said before, their acting nominations are well-deserved, but it doesn’t make sense that both of them are in the supporting category. Who’s the lead if not either of them, Jesse Plemons as Mitchell? Let’s be real. Kaluuya strikes an effective balance as Fred, equal parts commanding and compassionate. His Fred is in the fight to help the people and is prepared to give his life for it if necessary, and he leads from a place that’s both intense and still. Meanwhile, Stanfield is great as Bill, a man who’s fallen into a political, cultural, and personal spider web, getting pulled in different directions on every side. His performance is subtler than Kaluuya’s but no less effective. Also turning in fine work is Dominique Fishback (who I previously saw in The Hate U Give) as Fred’s right-hand woman Deborah. Her role is a non-flashy but important one, dedicating herself to the fight while also asking what that fight is for if they give everything they have to it.
Warnings
Violence (including police brutality,) strong thematic elements, language (including the N-word,) and drinking/smoking.
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