The raid was carried out, in part, due to information
from Hampton’s own security chief, William O’Neal
(LaKeith Stanfield), a car thief turned informant
four years earlier by the FBI’s Roy Mitchell (Jesse
Plemons). In the movie’s first scenes, O’Neal
storms into a bar in a trench coat and fedora,
flashing a fake badge — a ruse that nearly scores
him a car. When he’s caught, the police ask him
why not use a knife or a gun.
Faced with a lengthy prison term or going
undercover with the Black Panthers, O’Neal
opts to work for Mitchell. This brings us into
the heady orbit of Hampton. As played by
Kaluuya, he is a forceful, magnetic orator who,
through toil and charisma, is building a “rainbow
coalition” of the oppressed in Chicago. So
commanding is Kaluuya that “Judas and the
Black Messiah” (on HBO Max and in theaters
Friday) loses some of its punch when he’s not
around. (For a spell, Hampton is jailed.)
It’s not that the rest of the cast isn’t superlative;
especially good as Hampton’s partner, Deborah
Johnson, is Dominique Fishback — a memorable
presence on “The Deuce,” and, I suspect, a future
star. But “Judas and the Black Messiah” is best
when Kaluuya’s Hampton is in full, fiery voice
and King’s film is directly channeling the Black
power movement of the era.
If Kaluuya gives “Judas and the Black Messiah”
its strength, Stanfield supplies its unease. King
doesn’t dwell on O’Neal’s psychological stress as
an informant the way that Sidney Lumet’s police
corruption opus “Prince and the City” does. King
relies on juxtapositions of O’Neal’s time among
the Panthers and sit-downs with Mitchell. The
FBI agent believes he’s on the side of justice.