Movie Review: Judas and the Black Messiah

 

Note: This film is both in theaters and on HBO Max.

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

An intelligent and tense political thriller. 

This movie works on two levels as a political commentary and a tense suspense movie. It successeds very well on both accounts. As a political commentary Judas and the Black Messiah does its job perfectly. Not only does it present its message in an intelligent and convincing light but it does this without ever feeling forced or preachy. Instead the message is the driving force of the story and because of such the filmmakers knew that if they ever stopped to preach to us, it would come off as talking down to the audience. This style of storytelling makes for a more powerful and more entertaining film. As a thriller this movie is also top notch. It is so well done that it will leave even those who know the history on the edge of their seats. Much of this is due to the incredible pacing of each suspense scene as well as how the film perfectly builds up to each twist and turn. While the movie can get violent, it is never excessively or needlessly so. Instead it is there simply to drive home both the message and the suspense. With the exception of Hoover (who doesn't have much screen time) all the characters feel completely real and not like the overly simplified versions we would see in a lesser film (where good or bad would be their only personality traits). This may sound like something silly to say considering these characters are real people but I have seen a lot of movies based off a true story where the characters felt artificial. In a movie based off a true story this is certainly one of the most important factors and works perfectly here. 

I believe that even those who are extremely against this movie's message will agree that this is a very well made film and I believe that is the best thing that can be said about any political movie.