- Rating: B-
- Do I recommend: 75%
Plot (Non-Spoiling)
This American biographical drama focuses on a petty car thief from Chicago, Bill O’Neal (played by Lakeith Stanfield), who is recruited by FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (played by Jesse) to infiltrate the Black Panther Party’s (BPP) Chicago chapter. The chapter is led by chairman Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), a passionate ambassador of the BPP who has strong socialist beliefs. O’Neal quietly provides information to Mitchell about the BPP’s inner structure and conflicts. Mitchell and the FBI are highly interested in O’Neal’s information because they are secretly pursuing the BPP, or what they see as “the biggest threat to America.” Deep undercover, O’Neal remains vigilant and fears what the BPP could do if he is ever outed as an informant.
Diversity
This film had a focus on Chicago’s BPP chapter, so its 65% POC among the main cast, writers, director, and producers was expected. Many of the clashes in the film were race-related (Black vs. White), so the POC to White balance is consistent with its African-American focused themes. Most of the characters focused upon were the BPP’s male leaders, Bill, and Roy, so it is in turn a very male-centered film (83% male main cast). It is a logical characteristic as many of the violent clashes were either completely or mostly composed of men. The largest female presence, Deborah Johnson (played by Dominique Fishback), served as a humanizing contrast to Hampton’s martyr-like image during his public addresses as their romantic relationship developed. Behind the scenes, where there’s no historical limit to diversity, the director and all but one writer was a black man (one white male outlier) and the producers were 60% POC and 70% male.
Review
The most important thing I saw this film do was allow the viewer to see the wrongs done by both sides. The acting was excellent with Stanfield and Kaluuya offering performances similar to Get Out (A- movie). On the surface, this film is very good. However, I researched the real story of what happened and there were many misleading elements in the plot. Many of the skirmishes between the BPP and the Chicago Police were not connected to one another. I found it gave a false excuse to build up tension in the film. Furthermore, the ending credits related to O’Neal were extremely misleading which is a spoiler. The acting during the interrogation scene of O’Neal was also very bad (specifically Dominique Thorne) and poorly directed. The intensity was not built up appropriately to make the scene as scary as it could have been. This film did a good job in portraying the general problems of the situation revolving around Fred Hampton, but struggled in accurately showcasing the specific details of how everything built up. I would recommend people watch this with a grain of salt and research what historical elements the film didn’t portray accurately after viewing.
