Anyone who read my review for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) will know how disappointed I was in that movie. My disappointment didn’t just stem from it being a poorer entry in the MCU, but more that I knew director Ryan Coogler was capable of so much more. Just looking at his previous movies such as Creed (2015) or the first Black Panther (2018) showed how much his talents were curtailed by this ill advised sequel. Of course, the behind the scene tragedy of losing leading man Chadwick Boseman didn’t exactly help matters, but even overlooking this, Wakanda Forever just left me feeling cold.
That’s why Coogler’s latest film, Sinners, filled me with such delight. Unlike Wakanda Forever, this isn’t a film where his talents have been curtailed due to it being either part of a franchise or because of the production company. Whilst this was a Warner Brothers release, it appears that Coogler was given complete creative freedom, resulting in one of the freshest and exciting films to come out of Hollywood in some time.
Opening in 1932, twin brothers Smoke & Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return to the Mississippi Delta after being gone for 7 years. During those 7 years they had been working in Chicago for the outfit, building up their reputation only to flee with money they stole from gangsters. Upon their return they reunite with their young cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) who works with the two of them in their mission to open a juke joint. Using the money they had stolen, the brothers purchase an old sawmill with the intention of reviving it into said juke joint.
With the location in place, the brothers work hard at putting together a team to work the joint, including veteran musician Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), old friend Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) to work the door, husband and wife team Bo and Grace (Yao and Li Jun Li) and Smoke’s estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) as the cook. Sammie even manages to talk the lovely Pearline (Jayme Lawson), a local girl he has taken quite the fancy, to work as a singer.
Making things difficult is the appearance of Stack’s former flame Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) who has some serious resentment over Stack’s abandonment of her 7 years ago when he left for Chicago. Whilst they try to work their way through their troubles, mysterious drifter Remmick (Jack O’Connell) shows up at the juke joint requesting entry. Initially turned away, Remmick returns with a small army, one which may be more than they seem. Bugger it, they’re vampires. The trailers already ruined that fact. As Remmick and his flock determinedly try to get inside, our makeshift team of heroes must come up with a plan if they are to survive the night.
If i had to compare Sinners, it would be a mixture of Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and Walter Hill’s Crossroads (1986), albeit taking place in the Mississippi Delta of the 1930’s. As much as it is influenced by these and other genre fare, Coogler manages to give Sinners a personality of its own that makes it feel uniquely original amongst any of Hollywood’s recent output.
The first thing that will strike you is just how beautiful everything looks, with Sinners being shot using a combination of Ultra Panavision 70mm and IMAX 15-perf 70 mm cameras. The visuals that director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw captures during the film are staggering, taking full advantage of the awesome set design and landscapes at their disposal. It’s when watching a film like Sinners you fully recognize how much better movies shot on film are in comparison to those shot digitally.
Visually, the stand out for me was a bravura sequence that takes place during the opening night of the juke joint, where Miles Caton’s Sammie’s music seemingly transcends time, bringing both figures from the past and the future. These figures mix with the crowd in an unbroken two and a half minute shot where performance, visuals and music all combine to create an awe inspiring scene, one which made me want to loudly applaud the screen. Only courtesy for other patrons stopped me. Coogler has done “oners” before, but mostly these have been reserved for action scenes. As impressive as these have been, none of them come close to what he achieves here.
As great as Sinners is visually, it would be nothing without its soundtrack, with Coogler once again employing ace composer Ludwig Göransson, whose blues influenced score is almost a character in itself. In some respects you could even class Sinners as a musical as much as it would be a horror. As well as the background score, the assortment of songs peppered through the film are all exceptional, especially those from the extremely talented Miles Caton, who is a real find.
I say horror, but Sinners is much more than a horror film. Not to denigrate one of my favorite genres, but calling Sinners a horror movie almost does it a disservice. Sure, the film has its horrific elements but Coogler is as much interested in the historical aspects of his tale, focusing on the community of the Mississippi Delta and the inherent racism of the era, with crime and the Ku Klux Klan rearing its head as the film progresses. Clocking in at 137 minutes, some could consider the runtime to be excessive, but Coogler doesn’t waste a minute in a film filled with drama, humor and excitement. The runtime also allows Coogler time to build up to the horror that’s to come so that when it hits you have a connection to the characters.
Like the aforementioned From Dusk Till Dawn, it is roughly the halfway mark before the horror elements of the film come into play. There are some flashes of what’s to come in the opening minutes of the film but it is unclear what these relate to before watching the story unfold.
Similarly to From Dusk Till Dawn, the action is mostly focused on the latter half of the film, with the major action set piece being the vampire’s laying siege on the juke joint. The action is as violent as you would hope, with our heroes having to use an assortment of makeshift weapons against the small vampire army that has congregated around the juke joint. My only real complaint with the action would be that there isn’t more of it. Other than the main siege, the only other action scene is a shootout between Jordan’s Smoke and members of the KKK. Admittedly, this is pretty great, proving once again that Coogler has a real flair for action.
Of course, you wouldn’t care about the action if Coogler had created an assortment of characters that you really care about, all of whom have been perfectly cast. There isn’t a cast member here that sets a foot wrong, with every one of them getting an opportunity to shine.
Coogler regular Michael B. Jordan is his charismatic best, playing dual roles as criminal twins Smoke and Stack. While the characters appear to look identical, Jordan makes sure that you can differentiate between the two, with each character having their own distinct personalities. It never comes off as gimmicky that he is playing both brothers, with both characters genuinely feeling separate.
The plus factor of playing a dual role is that Jordan is afforded two love interests, with one being played by the always likeable Hailee Steinfeld, whose role seemed quite a departure from her better known roles in the likes of Bumblebee (2018) and Hawkeye (2021). Knowing her better from more family orientated fare, I was somewhat taken aback to hear her swearing up a storm and putting Jordan in his place. The role allows Steinfeld to go through a range of emotion and lean into her villainous side.
Wunmi Mosaku plays the other Jordan character’s love interest. She is a more tragic figure than Steinfeld’s, having gone through the loss of a child. She is also one of the only characters in the film that seems to have an understanding of the supernatural, making her imperative to the fight that eventually unfolds. This is a role Mosaku can really get her teeth into, one that stretches her far more than the likes of Loki (2021).
Then there’s the always welcome Delroy Lindo, offering quality support as he always does. His world-weary musician Delta Slim is one of the film’s most colorful characters, with his constant drunkenness covering up for a life of pain and suffering. One powerful scene has Lindo reminiscing of the brutality that was visited upon his friend years before. Coogler smartly doesn’t show the incident, instead only allowing us to hear it. However, we fully understand the violence through the emotion etched on Lindo’s face. Unsurprisingly, Lindo almost walks away with the film.
On the villain side there’s Jack O Connell, whose Irish immigrant vampire Remmick is quite a change from your typical blood sucker. Unlike usual vampire overlords, his reasoning seems to be more altruistic, with his talk of wanting to bring everyone together for peace and love sounding almost reasonable. Sure, he may want to kill you, but at least you’ll come back as a vampire. Even if you don’t want to.
Being an Irish immigrant, Remmick has a host of Irish folk songs at his disposal, which he sings throughout the film, making for some memorable scenes. Apparently this is what drew O’Connell to the role, as he has quite an affinity for Irish Folk music. He even gets the chance to throw in a bit of Irish dancing for good measure.
Sinners is even more than I could have hoped for. Beautifully filmed, with excellent performances to match, this should easily go down as one of the best films of the year. I have noted the odd critic online complaining, but these are the same that would tell you classics like Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987) are shit. So don’t listen to those idiots and instead listen to this one when I tell you that Sinners is not to be missed.
Plot: 5/5
Acting: 5/5
Action: 3.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
