This morning while my daughter was in preschool and my son was in elementary school, I decided to finally sit down and watch "Judas and the Black Messiah".

From the moment I heard of this movie, and saw the trailer, it was on my must watch list. I am really into African American history, I have read a ton on The Black Panthers, and this seemed to be the most real story to date on Fred Hampton, and his importance in American history. The cast is also absolutely top notch. I am a humongous LaKeith Stanfield fan. Love him in "Atlanta", "Sorry to Bother You" is one of my all time favorite movies, he was excellent on this most recent season of "The Eric Andre Show", the dude can act. I enjoy Daniel Kaluuya as well. He first appeared on my radar in the "Black Mirror" episode "One Million Credits". Then I saw "Get Out", which was followed by his role in "Black Panther" and I most recently saw him in "Queen and Slim". He's great. I am a Jesse Plemons fan too. He is becoming one of the nicest creeps in Hollywood. He is a force. All three of these guys are the main dudes in this story, and they all absolutely nailed their roles. Sure, Martin Sheen is eerie as J. Edgar Hoover, Dominique Fishback is wonderful as Deborah Johnson, Ashton Sanders, from "Moonlight", has a nice and important part, and Lil Rel Howery is only in five minutes of the movie, but man is he memorable. Really though, this is Kaluuya and Stanfield's movie, with some nice spot duty from Plemons.

In the movie Stanfield plays former car thief turned FBI informant Bill O'Neal. He is so good as the rat. He is squirrely and squirmy and it appears at times he is going to be had, but he always finds a way out somehow. Stanfield nailed the nerves, then belief, then betrayal and looking out only for himself to perfection. I openly rooted for him at times, but in the end, I loathed him. I know Stanfield and Charlamagne the God have some kind of beef over this role. What Charlemagne needs to understand, Stanfield is acting. He is not this person he is portraying. Charlemange needs to get off his jock because Stanfield was incredible. He is a creep, and he deserves all the bad he gets in the end. Plemons is the FBI agent who convinces Stanfield to be his rat. Plemons plays this role very monotonous, but it is clearly on purpose. He is an officer trying to catch someone who he believes is a "bad guy". He is as creepily quiet, and almost endearing in this role as he was on "Breaking Bad", or the season of "Fargo" he was on. He is really good at playing someone who is sympathetic on the surface, but in the end, is a real bad dude. The scene where he sees O'Neal at the Black Panther rally speech is frightening.

With all of the great actors in this movie, Daniel Kaluuya is the absolute star of this movie. Every award and accolade he is getting is totally understandable. He nailed it. He gives a powerhouse of a performance. When he spoke as Fred Hampton in this movie, when he had an audience, I felt it. I would go to battle with this man. He was so impassioned and powerful and commanding and thoughtful and political and downright charming. For every Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr, we also had a Fred Hampton. Someone who isn't as well known, or studied, but needs to be. And Kaluuya brought this person back to life. I was moved by his performance. I watched him jaw agape because of his tremendous performance. His speech scenes were the best, but the prison stuff was very good, and his death, the day before, was brutal and heartbreaking. Kaluuya should be one of the frontrunners for Best Actor. I'd say it is Delroy Lindo for "Da 5 Bloods", or Kaluuya for this role. They are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack this year. I loved him in this movie and in this role.

I highly recommend this movie for everyone to see. It is important American history brought back to life by some really great actors, writers and a director. Check it out. It is great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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