Fred Hampton is looking for revolutionaries.
William O’Neal is trying to stay out of prison.
In Shaka King’s vivid “Judas and the Black Messiah,” these seemingly very different men will be set on a terrible collision course for each other.
One part Hampton biopic, one part unnerving portion of American (and all-too-recent) history, King’s drama is Bolstered by major performances by Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah” makes the Hampton saga feel as urgent — and tragic — as ever.King, directing only his second feature film, deftly handles the complex script he co-wrote with Will Berson from a story by the Lucas brothers, Keith and Kenneth, one that layers time, place, perspective, and mood.
Set in a richly imagined late-’60s Chicago, “Judas and the Black Messiah” opens with Stanfield as William O’Neal, attempting to unpack his misdeeds via a careful recreation of his own televised interview.
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