JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (2021) and SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (2018)

Across film and television, LaKeith Stanfield has often been one of the most compelling elements in some of the most interesting projects of recent memory. Leading man handsome while still feeling quirky and awkward, he is equally adept in both comedy and drama even while his specific energy doesn’t change that much.

Case in point, the pairing of JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH and SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. Both films tackle the issues of race and class in America with Stanfield’s character standing on the knife’s edge between fighting the power or aiding it. Yes, Judas is a hard-hitting historical drama and the other is an outrageous satire, both each film uses Stanfield’s uneasy persona to exemplify the choice many Black people face in this country: Join the struggle for change or see to your own self-interest by joining your oppressors.