Daniel Kaluuya delivers a powerful performance that could land him among Oscar contestants this popular season, as shown in the new trailer for Judas and the Black Messiah.
Kaluuya (Get Out) plays the iconic leader of Black Panther, Fred Hampton, who was betrayed by FBI informant William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), who invaded the group as part of a plea deal.
While coming to power within the Black Panther party and being considered a threat to the US government, he is also preparing to start a family with his pregnant fiancée Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback).
Black Messiah: Daniel Kaluuya delivers a powerful performance that could drop him among Oscar contenders this season, as shown in the new trailer for Judas and the Black Messiah
Judas: Kaluuya (Get Out) plays the iconic Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was betrayed by FBI informant William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), who invaded the group as part of a plea deal
The trailer begins with Deborah telling Fred, ‘I want to share something with you,’ while she begins reciting a poem to Fred.
“Like the masses, I was awe-inspiring when I first looked at all the things you are,” she begins, as we watch footage of Hampton arriving at an event where he is delivering a powerful speech.
“When I heard the speech, I knew we were going to make noise. I just thought it would be in the streets, ‘she continues.
Poem: The trailer begins with Deborah telling Fred, ‘I want to share something with you,’ as she begins to recite a poem to Fred
Speech: ‘Like the masses, I was amazed when I first looked at all the things you are,’ she begins as we watch footage of Hampton arriving at an event where he is delivering a powerful speech.
We also hear FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) announcing in front of a full house of agents that the Black Panthers’ biggest threat to our national security.
“Our counter-intelligence program should prevent the rise of a Black Messiah,” Hoover added, as FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) watched the crowd.
Mitchell tells O’Neal in an interrogation room that he faces 18 months for the stolen car plus five years for imitating a federal officer, “or you can go home.”
J. Edgar: We also hear FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) announcing in front of a packed room of agents that the Black Panthers’ biggest threat to our national security
Threat: ‘Our counter-intelligence program must prevent the rise of a Black Messiah,’ Hoover adds, as FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) watches in the crowd
Interrogation: Mitchell tells O’Neal in an interrogation room that he faces 18 months before the stolen car and five years for imitating a federal officer, ‘or you can go home’
O’Neal becomes Mitchell’s eyes and ears within the Black Panther party, as he is told: ‘come near Hampton.’
Hampton is seen delivering another exciting speech in which he reveals that the Black Panther ‘forms a rainbow coalition of oppressed brothers and sisters of every color’, while both black and white people respond to his message.
Hampton is heard saying, ‘America is on fire now, and until the fire is extinguished, nothing else means a damn thing. Imagine what we can achieve together. We can heal this whole city. ‘
Get close: O’Neal becomes Mitchell’s eyes and ears within the Black Panther party, as he said: ‘get close to Hampton’
Heal: Hampton is heard saying, ‘America is burning right now, and until the fire is extinguished, nothing else means a damn thing. Imagine what we can achieve together. We can heal this whole city ‘
O’Neal is again seen in an interrogation room with Mitchell, and O’Neal makes it clear: “these are not terrorists.”
One of Hampton’s closest associates then says to him, ‘We have a rat,’ because O’Neal is worried that he’s exposed, though Mitchell says, ‘Nobody knows who you are.’
Johnson continues her poem in the midst of a gun battle with the Chicago police, adding strikingly: “We shout and we shout and we live according to this national anthem / but are the power of the people who are worth the ransom.”
Not terrorists: O’Neal is seen again in an interrogation room with Mitchell, while O’Neal makes it clear: ‘these are not terrorists’
Hampton responds to the poem by saying to Johnson: ‘If I dedicate my life to the people, I dedicate my life’, and apparently knowing his fate before it happened.
Johnson argues he should ‘go there and talk about dying a revolutionary death, because there is no other person growing in your body.
The trailer ends with Hampton telling O’Neal, “Where there are people, there is power.”
Life: Hampton responds to the poem by saying to Johnson: ‘If I dedicate my life to the people, I dedicate my life’, and apparently knows his fate before it happened
Growing up: Johnson argues he should ‘go there and talk about dying a revolutionary death because you do not have another person in your body’
Hampton was just 21 years old when he was murdered in December 1969 during a raid on his Chicago apartment, just 25 days before his son Fred Jr.
Shaka King (newlyweds, high maintenance) directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Will Berson (Scrubs).
Warner Bros. releases Judas and the Black Messiah simultaneously on February 12 in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service.
Death: Hampton was just 21 years old when he was killed in a raid on his Chicago apartment in December 1969, just 25 days before his son Fred Jr.
Release: Warner Bros. releases Judas and the Black Messiah simultaneously on February 12 in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service