Final Rating: 3.5/5
The Ballad of Judas Priest, directed by Sam Dunn and Tom Morello,explores the history and impact of one of the most influential heavy metal bands. Through interviews with all current (and some former) members of the band, as well as lifelong fans including Jack Black, Ozzy Osbourne, and Dave Grohl, Ballad does an admirable job condensing over 50 years of history into a brisk 100-minute narrative about the origins and culture of heavy metal, and the pioneers at its centre.
Ballad tells its story chronologically. Guitarist K. K. Downing and bassist Ian Holm are introduced as friends in Birmingham, England who start a band, and then discover that Holm’s girlfriend’s brother, Rob Halford, can sing. When the record company is hesitant to sign another four-piece, they take the unusual move of bringing in a second lead guitarist, Glenn Tipton, to round out the group.
From there, the group’s rise is swift, held back only by an inability of promoters to classify their music. They’re booked mostly as “progressive blues” until someone settles on “heavy metal.” After Halford then points out that they’d benefit from a distinct look, he and Downing spend a day on the town in London, eventually landing in a sex shop and walking out with an entire band’s-worth of leather attire.
Scenes of the band in their infancy include discussions of the culture that followed. “Heavy Metal,” introduced as a way to describe the music of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, becomes a genre that takes the world by storm. The image of a group of men decked out in all leather – previously a look for bikers, queer “leather-daddies,” and 60s British rockers – emerges as fashion for the budding headbanger subculture.
The working-class and redneck fans of the band are highlighted in their early days; Judas Priest themselves are working-class and Halford’s lyrics speak bluntly to relatable frustrations. Judas Priest is portrayed as a positive force, building an accepting community for people who couldn’t find belonging elsewhere.
The strong emphasis on inclusivity complements Halford’s own struggles with his sexuality. One of the most famous gay men in rock music, Halford was closeted until coming out in an MTV interview in 1998. One insight Halford provides in Ballad is that he did so more or less accidentally, blurting out “as a gay man,” to a question without a second thought.
The rest of the band, giving interviews to the filmmakers, repeatedly stress that Halford’s sexuality was neither a secret nor an issue to them since Judas Priest’s inception, but the most revealing nugget comes from Downing when talking about seeing Halford’s mental health decline on the road during the 80s. When considering whether Halford should have come out earlier, he’s quick to say the band would have supported him, but also that they certainly were happy he didn’t at that time.
The MTV interview is followed immediately by a feel-good story of Halford receiving supportive messages from fans. But it’s a saccharine end to a harrowing sequence about Halford’s decline into alcoholism and early frictions within the band. It feels like the filmmakers are saying “things got dark, but they got better again,” and moving on, without acknowledging that in that darkness, cracks are beginning to form that will follow the band into the present.
As the film approaches the present, directors Sam Dunn and Tom Morello run into difficulties as those cracks reveal themselves.
The strongest part of the film is a deep dive into the band’s “subliminal message trial.” In 1990, Judas Priest was accused of causing the suicide of two boys from Nevada by hiding the words “do it” in one of their songs. The case would ultimately be dismissed but turned the band into unwitting avatars of everything wrong with heavy metal music.
While the band members don’t explicitly place too much weight on the trial in interviews, the shift in attitude after the trial is clear. The latter years of the band are marked by major lineup changes, with Halford departing in ‘92, Tipton taking on some solo projects during the 90s, and Downing finally departing in 2010. Halford’s departure would see the introduction of Tim “Ripper” Owens as vocalist, who remained with the band until Halford returned in 2003. Owens is mentioned for about a minute in the film.
Even less is said about Downing’s departure – up until the final minutes of the film, viewers less familiar with the band would be forgiven for thinking he’s still with Judas Priest. This is the film’s biggest weakness but likely owing in large part to outstanding legal issues between the band and Downing. When the band is no longer talking about the distant past, the interviews become more guarded as well.There’s clearly bad blood still, but 2026 is too early to learn why.
It’s interesting to consider whether Ballad could have ended on a stronger note. For better and worse, the story of Judas Priest is still being written. There’s a brilliant story within the first 35 years that Dunn and Morello are able to tease out, and Ballad shines when Judas Priest’s early days and impact are highlighted. But there’s an equally interesting story that can only be implied through what the filmmakers choose not to show.
The Ballad of Judas Priest was seen during the 2026 Hot Docs film festival.
