Sinners didn’t have a lot of buzz until very recently, which is quite shocking when you consider that it’s the newest film from award-winning director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther). Within the last week, the hype has shot up to the stratosphere, gaining acclaim around the board and being one of the rare horror films to get an A Cinemascore (the last being Poltergeist). Curious about all the excitement, I went to see it, and I can safely say it lives up to the expectations and then some; Sinners is a total triumph, a delicious and delightful horror-action blast.
Sinners was initially announced in January 2024 following a bidding war for the project eventually won by Warner Bros. Set in the Jim Crow-era South of the United States, the film follows Sammie Moore, known to locals as ‘Preacher Boy’ due to his father’s role as local pastor, getting involved with the efforts of his cousins, twin brother Elijah and Elias, known as Smoke and Stack respectively, who are opening up a local juke joint. Along the way, they’ll have to fight off vampires, racism, and reconcile with what matters to them most in life. It’s an incredibly ambitious film, balancing elements of historical drama, horror, action, romance and musicals deftly and with ease, never feeling tonally incongruent with itself at any point throughout the narrative. It’s a slow descent into darkness admittedly, pulling off a mid-movie genre shift akin to 1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn, but in a good way, handling it with a similarly effortless and perfect approach. It’s sexy, thrilling, scary, and a total blast from start to finish.
Technically, the movie is marvelous. Gorgeously shot by Autumn Durald Arkapaw on 65mm film (utilising the same 70mm IMAX cameras that Christopher Nolan used for 2023’s Oppenheimer), so many moments in the film are visually stunning. You feel the urge to capture every inch of whats on screen, the entire film being lit so well with beautifully rich colors and stunning cinematography. You can actually see during the night time scenes as well, which is a welcome reprieve from the average film released these days. The score is stunning too, with Coogler’s recurring collaborator Ludwig Göransson providing an incredible score based around the 1932 Dobro Cyclops resonator guitar used by Sammie in the film. There’s so many moments where the music of the film enhance a moment, pushing it from fantastic to flat-out jawdropping. I particularly loved how Göransson differentiated the musical cues for different characters, an excellent detail that adds so much richness to the film.
The cast are all around exceptional; Coogler does a fantastic job at making the entire cast feel well-rounded and fleshed out, even if they have minimal screentime or realistically do not contribute much to the ‘plot’ of the story. Instead, it feels like we’ve stumbled into the life of real people, and are seeing glimpses of a much larger life. Hailee Steinfeld (Hawkeye) is a particular standout, having immense on-screen chemistry with the rest of the cast that helps you buy into her history with them. When things get ugly, and vampires get involved, she plays the switch perfectly, equal parts terrifying and exhilirating to watch. Li Jun Li (Babylon) is fantastic as well, portraying a more realistic and conflicting reaction to monsters that horror films tend not to get into. Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country) is also great, and although her character has to provide most of the exposition, she still instills layers of believability and warmth into it. The best supporting cast member though has to be the ever-incredible Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods), as the drunken and loveable Delta Slim, who steals the show every single time he’s on screen.
Much of the film’s advertising revolves around the dual roles of Michael B Jordan (Creed), debatably presenting him as the main star of the film when it’s more of an ensemble. That’s not to sell his work short – he’s absolutely phenomenal in both roles. He clearly distinguishes between the twin brothers, using his body language, voice and mannerisms to flesh out the similarities and differences between them. Both feel incredibly well-realised and sympathetic, equal parts badass and human. He’s so good in both roles that often I forgot they had to use special effects to put two Michael B Jordan’s on screen at the same time. Jordan continues to prove that he’s a bonafide movie star, and his repeated collaborations with Coogler just continue to strengthen my opinion of him as a genuinely fantastic actor oozing in leading-man charisma whilst being able to genuinely act with grace and precision. It’s two brilliant performances for the price of one.
Jack O’Connell (Skins) portrays the main antagonist, Remmick, and is an incredible presence throughout. Creepy and charming in the way all movie vampires should be, he steals the movie in a particularly vivid and exceptional sequence set to a traditional Irish jig. O’Connell embeds layers of nuance to his character, often taking even the smallest moments and adding layers of depth and nuance to them and his performance. This movie portrays vampires in a cult-like, hive-minded fashion, befitting the film’s core themes. They’re terrifying, both in how they’re visually presented with sharp teeth, long fingers and glossy, shining eyes, but they’re also strangely compelling in the most uncomfortable way, and it works to differentiate the film’s interpretation of the legendary creature from the dozens of other vampire movies that came out in the last year.
Miles Caton shines in his feature film debut as debatably the ‘main’ protagonist, Sammie Moore. He’s incredibly charming, especially considering he’s not an established actor. He’s got a lot to handle, including multiple sequences where he has to bat off far more experienced actors such as Lindo, Steinfeld and Jordan, and yet he shines throughout. There’s a sequence about midway through the movie – and people who have seen it will know exactly what I’m talking about – that had me feeling like I was about to levitate out of my chair. It’s incredible, an auditory and visual feast and an emotionally explosive and triumphant moment, and it wouldn’t work as well without Caton’s incredibly graceful performance leading the way. Keep an eye on him, he’s sure to have more incredible work to come.
Sinners is about many things, but I think the focal point is culture, exploring both assimilation and appropriation. The jukebox club is Smoke and Stack’s attempt to create a space for Mississippi Delta Blues culture to thrive, where it can be appreciated and where the people who make blues music can be paid for the work they do and the art they create. This space can be appreciated by outsiders, such as by Steinfeld’s Mary, but it is still not her own. This cultural space is threatened by an outsider, a literal invading culture, which uses its own history of oppression to hide the possibility it can itself be the oppressor. The vampires hivemind functions as a corrupting force, in which separate cultures become subservient to one prioritized above all, or as Remmick says: ‘I don’t want your stories, I want your songs.’ A space for everyone is a nice idea, but it’s a lie, and in reality a space for everyone is a space for no one. The only way to preserve the club is to fight for it, even if it’s a potentially losing battle, because it’s better to have fought for it than to give up and let it die out. That’s the main message of the movie, and it’s an incredibly uplifting one, particularly at such a tumultuous time for so many minority cultures and individuals in the United States. It’s a theme rarely explored in popular culture, and Sinners does an incredible job at both being a narratively rich cinematic experience whilst also functioning as an exciting action / horror film (utilizing a style similar to the best Resident Evil games).
Overall, Sinners is a total triumph – riveting from start to finish and perfectly balancing elements of historical dramas, horror, action and romance to create a unique tonal blend that’s utterly compelling throughout. Supported by absolutely superb technical elements from top to bottom and an incredible cast full of powerhouse performances from stars both established and new, the film allows itself to take its time and rewards the audience’s investment by being thoroughly excellent throughout. It feels important for the times as well, exploring a theme rarely covered in mainstream pop culture, especially not in as effective a way it is here. The end result is a must-see horror / action hybrid, a near-perfect time at the movies that you should run, not walk, to go check out.
