Judas and the Black Messiah: A “Killer” Movie! (HBO Max)

This is an excellent historical drama about the murder of Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), the Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, on December 4, 1969, by FBI informant William O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield).  The film is anchored by an AAW performance by Daniel Kaluuya. It begins with O'Neal getting arrested for impersonating an FBI agent.  He will get a minimum of five years in prison, unless he accepts an offer from FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) to become an FBI informant.  O'Neal accepts the offer and infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party, led by their charismatic leader, Fred Hampton. Hampton is so inspiring and persuasive that he could "sell salt to a slug."  Hampton wants to unite all disenfranchised people, even enemies, and form a "Rainbow Coalition" to create radical change in America.  He is all-too-similar to MLK, who had recently been assassinated in 1968.  The FBI wanted to preserve the status quo and was especially concerned about Hampton's socialist agenda. O'Neal gets high up in the organization and even becomes a Hampton confidant.  He finds that he likes Hampton and even believes in some of his goals.  O'Neal tries to extricate himself from his informant's role, but Mitchell won't allow it.  Eventually, O'Neal is coerced into poisoning Hampton.  It's an important piece of history, which I didn't know anything about, and another example of how racist the USA was in the 1960's (although we still have a ways to go). I anticipate that the film will receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and that Kaluuya will receive a nomination for Best Actor.  It's a MUST-SEE!