Sinners ~ Review

NOTE: The following contains light spoilers.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a community. Everyone probably has their own definition – perhaps religious, cultural, economic, or geographical. How does one build a community and where does that come from? A community built around something positive is good, but a community can also be forged from hate and fear. Community can also be formed temporarily through art – particularly music, theater, or film. This communal bond is formed between the artist (or artists) and the audience.

So, this weird synthesis happens – where a piece of art connects you not only to your fellow audience members but to your direct past, their direct past, and the past of everyones ancestors. This happens to every single person in the audience. You’ve felt it at a live concert, play, or film where the art made you feel some sort of ineffable connection to the world. About halfway through Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, there’s a stunning musical sequence in which this idea of art piercing the veil is explored. It is possibly one of the biggest swings I’ve seen in a mainstream movie. It’s a sequence that should not work on any conceivable level and the fact that it does proves that Coogler might be one of the best directors of his generation.

It's 1932 in Clarkesville, Mississippi. Twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) have returned home from a stint in Chicago. The two have become notorious gangsters working for Al Capone. The twins have returned home with a bag of cash and looking for a fresh start. They’ve bought a disused sawmill from a racist land owner with the intent of starting a juke-joint for their community. The first hour or so of Sinners is spent on Smoke and Stack’s preparations for their big opening night party.

The brothers secure music from their cousin, aspiring guitarist and reluctant preacher's son, Sammie (newcomer Miles Canton) as well as old blues pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo). Food and drink are provided by Chinese shopkeepers Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo (Yao), and Smoke’s ex-wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) will cook her famous catfish. We also meet Stack’s ex-girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) who isn’t too pleased to see her ex back in town. Sammie also flirts with Pearline (Jayme Lawson) and invites her to the opening night rager. Stack also hires Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) an old friend of his to be security. This opening stretch of the film is filled to the brim with character, mood, and emotion. I almost wanted an entire movie dedicated to the opening and operation of this juke-joint. Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s lush cinematography creates a world that is entrancing. Perhaps this juke-joint that the brothers are trying to set up will create the community (and riches) that

they’re seeking.

Of course, there’s a steady drumbeat of dread underpinning the whole thing and a sense that this juke-joint plan will go south. Will it be from the racist machinations of the Jim Crow South? Or is something even more sinister on the horizon? An Irish vampire named Remmick (Jack O’Connell) prowling the corners of the county can only mean that everyone at the juke-joint is in for one bad and long night.

Sinners belongs to a very narrow niche of vampire movies. I’m going to call the Idiosyncratic Vampire Picture (or IVP for short). An IVP is a vampire story that takes all the familiar elements we know about the bloodsuckers (their weaknesses being garlic, stakes, sunlight etc…) but transposes them into a different genre. My favorites in this mini-genre are Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn and Katheryn Bigelow’s Near Dark. If Sinners offered nothing else but a kickass IVP it would still be one of the best movies of the year. However, the fact that the film has so much more on its mind might make it one of the best movies of the decade. Yeah, I know, that might be too much of a superlative to put onto a film, but no, I’m serious – Sinners is incredible.

Consider Coogler’s take on vampires. Now, you’d think an easy metaphor for something like this would be to make the vampires an allegory for white supremacy. That a vampire’s conquest of souls is how the inherent systems controlling others gradually suck the blood out of you.  But that is too obvious. White supremacy is white supremacy and it doesn’t need supernatural evil to aid it – humans are already too good at that. Coogler posits the vampires as their type of community, a community based around a "utopia" where pain and racism are no more. But that utopia can only be brought about by consuming others and bringing them into the fold. It's a comment on many things, I think, on cultural appropriation, the grinding wheel of fascism, and even the commodification of art.

Michael B. Jordan cements his leading man status, creating two distinct characters so you never lose track of who is who. Ruth E. Carter's clever costuming helps, but it’s Jordan’s performances that keep the characters separate. Smoke is the more free-spirited brother, looking for fun and adventure while Stack is the more practical-minded one – who is trying to find agency in a world that is designed to remove it from him. Jordan has a moment near the end of the film that breaks your heart.

Hailee Steinfeld proves once again that she’s a powerhouse, giving firecracker energy to the wounded Mary. Wunmi Mosaku is funny and heartbreaking in equal measure and brings an infectious warmth and energy whenever she’s on screen. Delroy Lindo is great and hilarious as a drunk with a heart of gold, while Omar Benson Miller shines as the very funny Cornbread.

Attention must be paid to Miles Caton – who should be heading toward stardom after this. He plays the naïve Sammie with so much wit and heart. He’s funny and charming and hopefully, we see a lot more of him.

So, I’ve managed to go through this review without mentioning the music! Ludwig Goransson creates an incredible blues-inflected score. Sinners is all about music, particularly blues music, and the score reflects that. Sinners feels alive in a way that few movies do, and that is all thanks to its score.

Coogler directs film like he's got something to prove, reminding me of early Spielberg. Every shot, and every sequence is designed for maximum impact. We all knew he could shoot action based on Creed and the Black Panther films, but he takes it to the next level here. He references not only the aforementioned Bigelow, but also the straightforward pulp epics of Walter Hill while managing to create his own unique style.

I think we’ll be talking about this movie for years to come. I’m still unpacking things from my one screening and I’m dying to see it again. Try to see the film in IMAX with the biggest crowd you can.

Sinners is a lot of things; a rip-roaring pulpy bloody good time, but also a meditation on the nature of community and how art can change us into who we are meant to be. It’s funny, sexy, violent, and philosophical…why else do we go to the movies?

Four Stars out of Four