Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panther Party per FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Party Chairman Fred Hampton ascends, falling for a fellow revolutionary en route, a battle wages for O'Neal's soul.

Directed by Shaka King. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, and Dominique Fishback.

There's a lot of food for thought in this one. Lakeith Stanfield is perfectly cast as Bill O'Neal and brings to the table an improbable combination of languid and restless energy, and Daniel Kaluuya seems unshakeable as the party's young chairman. (Though the real Fred Hampton was only 21 during the events of this film, while Kaluuya is a decade older.) O'Neal is such a fascinating character, especially as he becomes more and more interested in the philosophies Hampton is espousing but finds himself unable to escape his role as informant and must continually justify it to himself again and again. There's also a great subplot between Hampton and his pregnant girlfriend as they struggle with the morality of devoting yourself to a cause at the expense of your life when you have a child on the way. It's a well-done film with lots of layers to dig into.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Judas and the Black Messiah > One, Two, Three

Judas and the Black Messiah > The Game

Judas and the Black Messiah < Revengers Tragedy

Judas and the Black Messiah < Muppets Most Wanted

Judas and the Black Messiah > Is It College Yet?

Judas and the Black Messiah < The Babadook

Judas and the Black Messiah < Il Postino

Judas and the Black Messiah < The Graduate

Judas and the Black Messiah < Ghost Town

Judas and the Black Messiah < We're Not Married!

Judas and the Black Messiah < Kismet

Judas and the Black Messiah < City Lights

Final spot: #731 out of 3343, or 78%.