Weekend Watch: Judas And The Black Messiah, The Mauritanian And A Writer's Odyssey

Two truths and a fantasy.

Image Credit: Warner Media

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, a triple bill of new movies, two true-life tales, and one most definitely fantastical.

There have been a variety of movies about the Black Panthers through the year, both fact and fiction. Judas And The Black Messiah focuses on two men who are intimately connected to the organisation – Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois arm in the late 1960s, and William O’Neal, the FBI informant whose conflicted snooping to the forces of law enforcement led to Hampton’s death. 

It’s not an easy subject to tackle, but director Shaka King has four strong weapons in his arsenal: excellent lead performances from Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Dominique Fishback and Jesse Plemons. Kaluuya is the charismatic centre of the film, a firebrand whose passionate speeches inspired the community to do good, but also fanned the flames of conflict. Whenever he’s not on screen, the movie feels quieter and a little less effective, but that’s to take nothing away from what Stanfield has to work with. Real-life informant O’Neal is a much more subdued character, even if we meet him looking to steal cars and trick others out of their cash. His time working with the FBI to snitch on Hampton weighs him down, but Stanfield finds other notes to play other than just a crushed soul. 

Fishback, meanwhile, is Deborah Johnson, who falls in love with Hampton (and falls pregnant with his son, who carries on the Black Panther credo to this day), and finds the heart of a relatively small role compared to the others. Plemons plays Roy Mitchell, O’Neal’s FBI handler, who cajoles and coerces him into getting close to Hampton and, ultimately, betraying him. Popping up for just a couple of scenes is Martin Sheen, all slicked-back hair and nose prosthetics as J. Edgar Hoover, determined to take down men like Hampton.

Director Shaka Khan handles the film with sensitivity and style, the different sides of the story coloured in subtly alternating tones, and while the beats might feel familiar (hard to avoid, even though this is a true story), finding fresh angles. It’s the sort of history lesson you’re unlikely to have learned in school, and it’s one that demands to be watched. 

Judas And The Black Messiah will be in cinemas and on HBO Max from today.

Image Credit: STX

Also falling into the based–on–truth category is Andrew Macdonald’s latest film, The Mauritanian, which, like Judas, will inspire anger no matter which side of the political spectrum you call home. 

It’s based on the NY Times best-selling memoir Guantánamo Diary, written by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, chronicling Slahi's fight for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S. Government at Guantánamo Bay for years. The film follows the build-up to him actually going to trial, as the government assigns Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch) to prosecute, while New Mexico defence attorneys Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) agree to take his case. Cue tense meetings and lots of flashbacks to Slahi’s imprisonment and interrogation.

How you react to the film might depend on your feelings towards the government’s actions in the wake of 9/11, scooping up all manner of suspected terrorists and subjecting them to “enhanced interrogation” techniques in order to track down the main players behind the fateful attack. There will be those who burn with rage at the idea of the scattershot approach to terrorism, and the sheer number of innocent people caught up in it. Others will voice full-throated support for a country still reeling in the wake of a massive, coordinated attack that left thousands dead.

Macdonald treads the line sensitively, though his sympathies obviously lean towards Slahi and his story. He’s careful, though, to show Couch as a committed, but honest voice for the prosecution, committed to finding all the facts, even going up against stonewalling from the CIA. The Mauritanian is a workmanlike effort, a straight-down-the-line drama that tells a painful, complicated story without trying to be sensational.

The Mauritanian is on limited US theatrical release now. 

Image Credit: CMC Pictures

Breaking away from truth and reality quite spectacularly, A Writer’s Odyssey opts for fantastical creatures, albeit one that is also grounded in real emotion and concerns. 

The film, directed by Brotherhood Of Blades’ Lu Yang, tells the story of Lu Kongwen (Dong Zijian), the author of a fantasy novel series following a heroic teenager, who is on a quest to end the tyrannical rule of Lord Redmane, under the guidance of a Black Armour (Guo Jingfei). But through a strange twist of fate, the fantasy world of the novel begins to impact life in the real world, leading Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin) to accept a mission from Tu Ling (Yang Mi) to kill the author. That’s really just scratching the surface of the concept here, as Guan Ning is searching desperately for his kidnapped daughter, and she might just have something to do with the novel’s story.

This is a prime example of a Chinese fantasy movie – there’s tragedy bubbling below the surface, but it’ll also make you chuckle from time to time. With shades of Return To Oz (thanks to that freaky “Black Armour”, a living suit that feeds on the blood of whoever wears it and can separate to fight as a creature in its own right and the early work of Jackie Chan, it’s quite the ride. Splitting its time between the present-day story and the fantastical adventure, 130 minutes pass without you needing to check your watch.

One of the films looking to take advantage of the lucrative Lunar New Year in China, A Writer’s Odyssey is also rolling out slowly elsewhere, with a limited Stateside release. It’s on a big scale, bursting with action and a blend of serious battles and comic moments, and I guarantee it’ll be unlike anything else you’ll see right now. And that’s a recommendation.

A Writer’s Odyssey is on limited US theatrical/Drive-in release from today. Find the details here.