Judas and the Black Messiah

Kenny and Keith Lucas began pitching the idea of a Fred Hampton biopic to A24 and Netflix in 2014, selling it as "The Conformist meets The Departed." While working with Shaka King on a television pilot in 2016, they pitched their idea for a Hampton film, and he became intrigued. Will Berson had also written a Hampton screenplay about the same time and it was in early stages of production, with F. Gary Gray in talks to direct, Casey Affleck and John Powers Middleton in negotiations to produce, and Jaden Smith and O'Shea Jackson Jr. being eyed to portray Hampton. After that version fell through, Berson and King rewrote his script with help from the Lucas Brothers.[1]

In February 2019, it was announced Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield had joined the cast of the film, with Ryan Coogler producing and Warner Bros. Pictures distributing.[4] King, Kaluuya, and producer Charles D. King (who provided half the film's $26 million budget) reached out to Hampton's widow Njeri Johnson and her son, Fred Hampton Jr., to get their blessing on the film and casting.[1] In September 2019, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback and Ashton Sanders joined the cast of the film,[5][6] with Algee Smith being cast the following month.[7]

Principal photography began in Cleveland, Ohio on October 21, 2019.[8] On November 25 and 26, 2019, filming took place at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield.[9] After 42 days, production concluded on December 19, 2019.[10] Originally announced as Jesus Was My Homeboy,[4] the film was later reported as being titled Judas and the Black Messiah[8] before being described as untitled.[7][9] Kristan Sprague began editing the film in January 2020, prior the dozens of studios being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, which later resulted in crew members working remotely during post-production.[11] In July 2020, the film's title was confirmed to be Judas and the Black Messiah.[12]

The film's score was composed by Mark Isham and Craig Harris.[13] It features an original song titled "Fight for You" performed by H.E.R., who also co-wrote with D'Mile and Tiara Thomas.[14]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98% of 104 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "An electrifying dramatization of historical events, Judas and the Black Messiah is a forceful condemnation of racial injustice -- and a major triumph for its director and stars."[20] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on 25 critics, the film received "universal acclaim".[21]

Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge praised Stanfield's performance and said, "The powerful film puts the current moment into fresh historical context and suggests that ambivalence can be its own form of betrayal."[22] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Led by sensational performances from Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton and LaKeith Stanfield as William O'Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated his inner circle, this is a scalding account of oppression and revolution, coercion and betrayal, rendered more shocking by the undiminished currency of its themes."[23]

Pete Hammond from Deadline Hollywood and Karen Han from Slate both compared various themes in the film to those found in The Trial of the Chicago 7, with Hammond saying that "King skillfully lays out each side of the equation in this raw and exciting account set in 1968".[24][25]