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Judas and the Black Messiah

100 Movies of 2021

2021

Shaka King

Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Martin Sheen ...

6.5

6,386

Drama. Thriller The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O'Neal.

	Author	Review
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Led by sensational performances from [Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield] (...) this is a scalding account of oppression and revolution, coercion and betrayal, rendered more shocking by the undiminished currency of its themes"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"[A] fiercely watchable and passionately performed drama from the director Shaka King, with barnstorming performances from Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"Daniel Kaluuya ignites the screen in the fiery, unmissable 'Judas and the Black Messiah' (...) [King] gives the movie a lush high-theatrical style, full of artful tableaux and restless, rippling energy"	POS
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"The powerful film puts the current moment into fresh historical context and suggests that ambivalence can its own form of betrayal."	POS
United States	Brian Truitt USA Today	"[It] satisfies both as tense thriller and insightful period piece featuring two of the most captivating actors in Hollywood (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"In the coolly electrifying 'Judas and the Black Messiah,' you can’t take your eyes off Daniel Kaluuya"	POS
United States	Karen Han Slate	"One of the best films of 2021 (...) [The characters'] and their struggles feel real and present, rather than like mouthpieces or means to an end"	POS
United States	Carlos Aguilar The Wrap	"'Judas' is impeccably conceived (...) If cinema is political, Shaka King has made a manifesto."	POS
United States	Kate Erbland IndieWire	"Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield continue to show why they're two of our best working actors (...) While the legacy of Hampton’s work and O’Neal’s crimes should inspire more explorations, King’s contribution is already a lasting one"	POS
United States	Angie Han Mashable	"[It] is pure dynamite (...) The careful attention that King pays his two leads extends as well to the entire world around them"	POS
United States	Matt Goldberg Collider	"Shaka King’s movie is packed with great performances, but its secret weapon is in telling a story about how individuals relate to power dynamics."	POS
United States	Katie Rife AV Club	"If anything, the fact that this film feels enervating and relevant 50 years later speaks to just how right Fred Hampton was. You can kill a person, but you can’t kill an idea."	POS
United States	Peter Travers ABC News	"King's debut as a mainstream filmmaker pulses with revolutionary action, fiery rhetoric and a rare intimacy to the howling rage against injustice and police brutality (...) A new movie classic"	POS
United States	Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"Galvanizing, shocking and true (...) The acting and filmmaking are subtle, the characters are rich and complex —and the reverberations of the real-life drama were enormous (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS

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