Josh Reviews Sinners

Sinners, written and directed by Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed), reunites Mr. Coogler with his frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan, who plays dual roles as twin brothers “Smoke” and “Stack”.  It’s 1932, and the brothers return home to Mississippi after years away, during which time they were involved in the crime scene in Chicago.  They’ve returned with (clearly stolen) money that they intend to spend on creating a “juke joint”.  They use their money and their charm to corral help from a lot of their old friends, and within a single day they’re ready for a grand opening evening filled with music, dancing, and drink.  Along for the ride is their young cousin Sammie, who dreams of stepping out from under the shadow of his stern pastor father and making it as a musician.  For a while, it’s the very best day of Sammie’s life… until their music draws a terrible evil from out of the Mississippi woods…

Sinners is a triumph, a gloriously enjoyable film.  I was enraptured from minute one, and the film didn’t release me from its spell until the last of its two mid-and-end-credit sequences.  (This is a movie that you definitely want to stick around for until the credits are over.)  I’m so happy that this independent film has been cleaning up at the box office; it’s wonderful to see the creativity and originality of Mr. Coogler and his team rewarded.  If you haven’t seen Sinners yet, I highly recommend it.

This film is gorgeously made.  Mr. Coogler is an incredible filmmaker.  Every scene is alive and captivating.  The production values are incredible; Mr. Coogler’s team did a beautiful job bringing the world of 1932 Mississippi to life.  The sets and costumes are exquisite.  Mr. Coogler has a keen eye for how to frame a shot, and when he lets loose (such as in the show-stopping mid-film musical number, blending past and present streams of African American music together) ,he can hit the ball clear out of the park.

The music in this film is transcendent.  Once again, Mr. Coogler has collaborated with Ludwig Göransson (who won an Oscar for his magnificent work on Black Panther), and the result is a film in which the music is perhaps the main character.  Sammie dreams of being a blues musician, and the music of the blues is inextricably woven into the film.  There are some incredible musical moments in this film.  I mentioned Sammie’s pivotal time-warping musical moment above (which seems like a wild, potentially goofy idea, but it works like gangbusters in the film, giving this specific story a powerful historical context); there’s also a wonderful scene in which we’re introduced to the harmonica-playing Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), and I was blown away by Pauline (Jayme Lawson)’s explosive rendition of “Pale, Pale Moon” right before the chaos erupts.  On the other side of the musical coin, I thought it was a very clever idea that the vampires, led by Remmick (Jack O’Connell) have their own very different musical style, based on Remmick’s Irish heritage.  I loved the way the films’ third act turns into something of a battle between these two musical traditions.

Oh yes, there are vampires in this film!  It’s a sign of how well-made this film is, that I was fully in love with the story and the characters in that first hour, before any supernatural elements entered the story.  In fact, there was a point, deep into the film, in which I thought to myself that I didn’t want them to enter the story, because I was enjoying these characters so much and I wasn’t eager for the mayhem that I suspected was coming.  That’s exactly how it should be.  There’s horrific fun in the third act for those looking for gory carnage (And, whoof, there is a lot of violence in the film’s third act!); but it plays as terror and tragedy, because we care about these characters.  Again, that’s exactly how it should be.

The cast is spectacular.  Michael B. Jordan is an incredible talent, and he seems to shine brightest when working with Mr. Coogler.  He’s extraordinary in his dual lead roles as “Smoke” and “Stack”.  I smiled when we first saw the two on-screen, because they were helpfully wearing different colored hats (Stack in red and Smoke in blue).  But Mr. Jordan’s skillful performance (guided by Mr. Coogler’s sharp writing) quickly draws a clear distinction between these twin brothers, who are so similar and also so different.  I was extremely impressed.  (I was also impressed by the technical skill demonstrated by Mr. Coogler and his production team.  This entire film is a visual effects trick, but I never for one second stopped to doubt the complete truth of what I was seeing on screen.  I fully believed that these two characters were both inhabiting this same space.  There was not a single wobbly visual effects moment that I could spot, in which the fakery was revealed.  This is extremely impressive.)

Miles Canton is wonderful as Sammy, the “Preacher Boy.”  We’re watching this story through his eyes, and Mr. Canton does a beautiful job of carrying us through this tale.  Wisely, Mr. Coogler has written Sammy as young but not naive.  And when Sammy starts to play and sing… well, we believe that this is a musician who can move worlds.  The great Delroy Lindo (Malcolm X, Get Shorty, The Cider House Rules, Da 5 Bloods) is a delight as the grizzled blues musician Delta Slim.  Wunmi Mosaku (B-15 in Loki; Luther season 5) is mesmerizing as Smoke’s ex-wife (or perhaps they’re just estranged?) Annie, who is far more in touch with the spiritual and the mystical than Smoke.  Wow, Ms. Mosaku is incredible here — Marvel needs to give her a lot more to do in the MCU!!  Jayme Lawson (Mayor Bella Reál in The Batman) is also magnetic as Pearline, a married woman for whom Sammie has the hots (and vice versa).  (Wow, same message to the DC folks — give this wonderful actress a lot more to do!!)  Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Hawkeye) is incredible as Mary, a mixed-race young woman who had her heart broken by Stack years earlier.  Ms. Steinfeld is so compelling in this role; she brings so much heartbreak and longing into her performance — but also so much joy and life.  Omar Miller is great as Cornbread, who’s tasked with being the door-man at this new juke joint, and Li Jun Li and Yao are wonderful as Grace and Bo Chow, a married couple who are key players in helping Smoke and Stack launch their new venture.  Jack O’Connell is wonderfully loathsome as Remmick.

Sinners has stuck with me ever since I saw it.  There’s imagery in this film that I’m having a hard time shaking, and I find myself thinking about many of these characters (and wishing that many of them had gotten a happier ending).  That’s a compliment, by the way, not a complaint.  There’s tragedy in this film, and it hits hard.  I’m impressed by how much emotion Mr. Coogler was able to imbue into this vampire story, and how much historical resonance he was able to give to this tale.  The best fantasy and science fiction has something to say about where we’ve been and where we’re going, and that’s most definitely the case here.  Sinners is fun and beautiful and alive and sexy and horrific.  I loved it.

This is a film I can’t wait to watch again…!

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