Judas and the Black Messiah

 Movie: Judas and the Black Messiah
Nominated for: Best Picture, Actor in a Supporting Role (twice), Original Song, Original Screenplay, Cinematography
How I watched: Hulu
When I fell asleep: barely
When it had me: When Fred Hampton was building the "Rainbow Coalition"!
When it lost me: Nah.
What I have to say: We started this film pretty late. Now that the kids are (basically both) teenagers, they never go to bed. I'm trying to involve them in more of the potential nominee screenings but it's not always easy to find a good fit. Anyway, I was tired and my eyes closed a couple of times but that's on me, not the film. 

I connected with this story more than I did the film making. I am so glad these stories are being told and I hope lots of people are watching. I only recently learned this bit of history; how the U.S. Government would track and kill black leaders in order to preserve white supremacy. These stories remain shocking for white people like me who have existed inside privilege and removed from a lot of truth about our society. What struck me most is that Fred Hampton Jr. is roughly my age. And his father was killed by the government who were afraid he was getting too powerful. Even so, seemingly normal people will argue that racism is a thing of the distant past.

Daniel Kaluuya, Lakieth Stanfield and Dominique Fishback were all excellent. Kaluuya and Stanfield are both nominated as Supporting Actors. It feels strange to me that Kaluuya wasn't the Leadning Actor? Do they measure time on screen? Or how do they decide? 

The story is heartbreaking on so many levels. The music stood out for me twice, in a way that I didn't connect to it. But I also think it makes sense for the music to make me uncomfortable. The editing was really invisible in a way that makes me think it was a lot of work. Overall it was a really strong film with an important message.