An immersive and thrilling film rich in music and history.
read more
It’s hard to believe Sinners is writer-director Ryan Coogler’s first original feature film. He’s always had a voice but never has it been heard as loud and clear or his genius most amplified than it is here. Enlisting the talents of frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan to front a brilliant supporting cast incuding Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Delroy Lindo, Li Jun Li and more, they help bring his layered vision to life.
Set in the 1930s in Southern United States, Sinners follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Jordan in dual roles) who return to their hometown but are faced with a greater evil. They have plans to open a juke joint – a.k.a a safe space for people of colour to wind down and be free – seemingly a nice longterm plan to aide their people with a promised good time in an era of strong discrimination. But the way in which they recruit their performers and the urgency to open shop prove otherwise as if foreshadowing the fate of the night to come.
Sinners spends its first half introducing its characters and their relationships with the twins, bringing its viewers into a world of song and celebration before it throws us all for a loop as dusk settles. When the film finally succumbs to its true nature of being a supernatural horror film, we are greeted with the fear of losing said characters as they go into survival mode against the threat of vampires led by Remmick (a chilling O’Connell).
Smoke and Stack are characteristically distinctive, initially distinguishable through the sweet threads by award winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, the characters rely heavily on Jordan’s nuanced and compelling performances. Mosaku and Steinfeld play Annie and Mary (the romantic partners of Smoke and Stack respectively) – one being the film’s solid voice of reason while the other a young and capricious force – significant roles in the twins’ lives and their decision making. But the heart and soul of the film lines within Smoke and Stack’s young and ambitious cousin, Sammie (Caton). He’s got the raw talent of a skilled blues musician with an added twist of supernatural abilities that contribute to the film’s central plot, specifically attracting the attention of vampires. Caton is a true standout making his film debut here with his sincerity and mesmerising dulcet tones, one would wish to hear him sing the blues away if only it weren’t a double edged sword.
There’s a poignant sequence in Sinners that feels almost out of place for defying the flow of time but it’s also a brilliant showcase of musical evolution. This plays into the significance of music being its own character in the film, a notion most supported by the mastery of Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Oppenheimer). The composer delivers one of his best works to date with an entrancing score of uniquely blended genres, lending to the film’s rich scenery.
Sinners is an immersive film of good vs evil and an experience worth having on your own. The vampires may be visually terrifying – with their glowing eyes and mouthful of bloody fangs – but the true horror that lies within Sinners is the concept of loss of agency to greater evil. Despite its predictability at times, the thrill never wanes.
read less