In The Trial of the Chicago 7, Kelvin Harrison Jr. made a significant impact in only a handful of scenes as Illinois Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton, to the extent that his tragic fate devastated the characters who knew him and viewers alike.

The experience made it clear that Hampton warrants his own film, and Judas and the Black Messiah provides that platform, chronicling the events that led to his final hours in electrifying fashion, thanks to powerhouse performances and top-notch craftsmanship.

The fact-based film establishes Shaka King (Newlyweeds) as a major filmmaker and adds to the illustrious career of cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave; The Place Beyond the Pines) — and together their talents create an environment in which heartbreaking, realistic drama can unfold.

As Hampton, Daniel Kaluuya has never been better, though even in Get Out, he’s never been given a part this meaty. Embodying the young leader’s gifts for public speaking and confidence in dangerous situations, Kaluuya is just as strong in quiet, intimate moments with love interest Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback, The Deuce), during which his considerable shyness is unearthed.

The film, however, is called Judas and the Black Messiah, and LaKeith Stanfield is comparably magnetic for similarly layered yet completely different reasons. Playing Fred’s inevitable betrayer, the thief-turned-FBI informant Bill O’Neal, he impressively balances the risks and rewards of undercover life, especially the complications that arise when he becomes invested in Fred as a person and the Panthers’ ideals overall.

The dynamic between Kaluuya and Stanfield — and Fishback, who holds her own with both actors as a refreshingly agency-rich young woman — is so strong that the film naturally suffers when Fred gets sent to jail. King’s script with Will Berson doesn’t quite know how to compensate for Fred’s absence, but finds such winning solutions as soul-shattering prison politics and an expertly staged shootout at the Panthers’ headquarters.

Likewise compelling is Jesse Plemmons as Bill’s bureau handler Roy Mitchell, both during their regular check-in meals and when he makes a surprise visit to monitor his snitch in the field, though the less said about a heavily made-up Martin Sheen as J. Edgar Hoover, the better.

These forces intersect in beautiful and devastating ways, though the biggest gut-punch doesn’t arrive until the postscript. The revelation provides notable clarity to the preceding moral ambiguity and practically demands an instant rewatch — a quality that can be said of precious few modern films.

Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10 and Carolina Cinemark, and available to stream via HBO Max

(Photo: Warner Bros.)