20 Best Movie Performances Of 2021

7. Daniel Kaluuya - Judas & The Black Messiah

Dev Patel Green Knight
Warner Bros. Pictures

Daniel Kaluuya received a well-earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar earlier this year for his powerhouse of a performance as Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.

Kaluuya brings the animated, tragically doomed Hampton to life with energising ferocity, depicting the man as a true force of nature whenever he gathers a crowd to deliver a passionate speech.

Kaluuya absolutely disappears into the role, not a scrap of his native Brit twang detectable as he belts out Hampton's iconic speeches with shattering verve.

Embodying a real-world figure of such importance - and whose life had such a tragic end - bears a massive amount of responsibility, and Kaluuya pays firm tribute to Hampton with a performance of towering magnitude.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.