Judas and the Black Messiah (2020)

Car thief Bill O'Neal is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Black Panther Party, with the goal of getting close to chairman Fred Hampton. As O'Neal climbs in the party, he also comes to believe in its message, which makes his mission more difficult than he anticipated.

Kaluuya as Hampton is magnetic, which is the whole reason it works at all. The story itself is told a bit flatly -- a "this then this then this" structure -- and I was often confused about the passage of time. Martin Sheen's Hoover makeup is distracting and Dominique Fishbach's portrayal of Hampton's girlfriend is rather non-engaging. Still, it's worth a watch because I'm sure that a good chunk of the American population, just like me, is unfamiliar with this important chapter.

B-