âJudas and the Black Messiahâ Is an Urgent, Must-See Biopic A stirring âpower to the peopleâ film depicts the FBIâs persecution of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. Director/co-writer Shaka Kingâs thrilling Judas and the Black Messiah explosively dramatizes the struggle of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya) and the FBIâs persecution of Hampton and the Black Panther Party. Threatened by the charismatic, fearless Hampton and the Panthersâ militancy, Bureau Director J. Edgar Hoover (played by Martin Sheen) unleashes COINTELPRO on the young freedom fighter and his courageous comrades. Hoover directs agent Roy Mitchell (played by Jesse Plemons) to spearhead the Counterintelligence Programâs covert campaign of dirty tricks in Chicago. Using the threat of imprisonment and bribery, Mitchell recruits criminal William OâNeal (played by LaKeith Stanfield) to infiltrate and subvert the Illinois branch of the Panthers, which Hampton is the chairman of. Hampton, who is also the partyâs national deputy chairman, is put in the crosshairs by Hoover, who fears the rise of a âBlack Messiahâ able to awaken and lead the Black masses in the late 1960s.