Shaka King’s biopic drama, Judas And The Black Messiah, explores the life of a Black Panther chairman named Fred Hampton, who was killed in 1969 by Chicago police during a raid on his apartment that was planned with the FBI. The story is told from William O’Neal’s perspective, the FBI informant who infiltrated the Panthers and gave the scoop on what was happening. This information ultimately led to Hampton’s death. Everything spoken about in this film is based on true events.
Judas And The Black Messiah stars Oscar-nominated actor Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther) as Fred Hampton, LaKeith Stanfield (Short Term 12, Sorry to Bother You) as William O’Neal, Jesse Plemons (Fargo) as Roy Mitchell, Dominique Fishback (The Deuce) as Deborah Johnson, Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) as Larry Roberson, Martin Sheen (The West Wing) as J. Edgar Hoover, Algee Smith (The Hate U Give) as Jake Winters, Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) as Brian, Jermaine Fowler (Coming 2 America) as Mark Clark, and Darrell Britt–Gibson (Just Mercy) as Bobby Rush.
It also features Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk), Amari Cheatom (Django Unchained), and Caleb Eberhardt (The Post).
The film has been raved about since its debut. Rotten Tomatoes has even given Judas And The Black Messiah a 96/100. A percentage that’s often hard to obtain by the media review site.
Recently, Kerry Washington (American Son) sat down with Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, and Dominique Fishback to discuss their involvement in the film. She also asked them how the film came into their lives, how they felt working with others of the same skin complexion, their character’s development, what they discovered while researching their characters’ history, their relationship on (and off) set, and more.
Moreover, Kerry Washington added that if Judas And The Black Messiah is nominated for Best Picture, it would be the first time in history that a film with all black producers would be considered to win the prestigious award.
