Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
SINNERS— 5 STARS
The eagerly-awaited new release Sinners confirms something substantial about writer-director Ryan Coogler for this very writer and critic. We are in the presence of and witnessing greatness. Many prolific filmmakers over time have dabbled in different film genre sandboxes. They’ll try a few hallmark tropes on for size, have their day at that particular cinematic beach, and leave back to their comfort zone. Then, a wave will come along of someone or something better than the previous attempt. It will wash the sand away because what was done didn’t leave a lasting impression. That’s not happening to Ryan Coogler when he works within his chosen sandboxes.
LESSON #1: BEING A MYTHMAKER– The 38-year-old director builds sandcastles of towering scope held together by a special mortar that other contemporaries cannot fuse with the same strength: MYTH. Whether it’s chronicling a nationally headlined Oakland death, fleshing out a progeny spinoff to a legendary franchise, or playing in the comic book movie sandbox, fable and tradition flood all of it. Coogler has proven to be a mythmaker of the highest order, imbuing his environments, characters, and tales with layer after layer of cohesive allegories, robust vitality, and a righteous sense of heritage.
With this (right from Wikipedia) “American period supernatural horror adventure film,” Ryan Coogler hasn’t just carved one myth out of all those genres within Sinners. That MFer chiseled three. Three! Each is a monument in its own right, and no wave will erode them anytime soon. Few, if any, fellow filmmakers command that authoritative a level of mythmaking in one movie. The ghastly fantasies and impactful fables concocted by Sinners have never looked and sounded this dashing, lustful, and audacious.
Coogler’s longtime muse-of-choice, the endlessly charismatic Michael B. Jordan, plays a pair of well-dressed twin brothers named Smoke and Stack in a dual role achieved with body doubles and slick special effects. Draped in costumes from two-time Oscar winner Ruth E. Carter, the former wears a blue scally cap and leans on his trusty pair of Colt pistols. The latter prefers to brandish a knife and don a red, wide-brimmed fedora shading his gold-trimmed teeth. They are returning to their native Clarksdale, Mississippi domain in 1932 after nearly a decade away as former World War I vets earning a sturdy reputation and hefty wallets as made men up north in Al Capone’s Chicago.
Like a reverse of The Great Migration, Smoke and Stack left notoriety to bring their deepened pockets back to their people and open their juke joint nightspot. The first act of the all-in-one-day course of Sinners covers their preparations, purchases, and recruitments. Their anointed right-hand man is their younger cousin Sammie Moore (newcomer Miles Caton), nicknamed “Preacher Boy” on account of what kind of home he comes from. Strumming chords on a dobro and armed with an untapped soulful voice, Sammie is also the twins’ fresh-faced talent they hope will bring the house down alongside the headlining musical services of Delta Slim (living legend Delroy Lindo of Da 5 Bloods).
LESSON #2: MONEY DOES MORE THAN TALK– The brothers have learned the protective and persuasive influences granted by securing and flaunting wads of cold, hard cash. Their ambitious goals of freedom and power granted by attaining wealth become the foundation of Sinners’s first myth, rooted in the quintessential American Dream. Money does more than talk, even against the varying resistance they meet as Black men buying an old mill location, securing goods, and courting help and talent in front of their white opponents. They’ve had a taste of being treated as essentially royalty. Now, they want to be kings of their own domain, and achieve that stature as lockstep and proud siblings. Alas, let the warning of “all money comes from blood” linger.
Naturally, the twins blowing back into town fan old flames as much as it kicks up dust. Each has a former lover they left behind. Smoke takes the time to rekindle his relationship with Annie (Loki’s Wunmi Mosaku), the mojo-wielding and wise-to-the-occult mother of his deceased daughter. For Stack, it’s Mary, played by Bumblebee and ascending Marvel Cinematic Universe star Hailee Steinfeld. She’s a rich white woman with familial ties jilted by grief and passion who won’t take no for an answer any longer after years apart.
All of the Smoke and Stack brothers’ work, partners, and generated buzz culminate in a rollicking opening night. Alas, not every guest at this facelifted mill is local, invited, or entirely human. After omens are laid that the sinful and salacious blues and jazz music can bring out the devil in people and the world at large, a trio of vampires posing as folk singers, led by the Irish ancestor Remmick (Jack O’Connell of Unforgiven and Lady Chatterley’s Lover), descend upon the juke joint and turn Sinners on its ear with a complete change in peril and mood.
LESSON #3: FRESHENING UP MOVIE VAMPIRES– This swerve occurring just after the one-hour mark in Sinners builds the second myth of Coogler’s three. By injecting the rules, strengths, and weaknesses of vampires into a different era and setting as potent as this one, the old monsters here are sharpened to be indomitable wraiths more dangerous than the inherent societal threats of the Jim Crow South. Yet, the temptation for power and freedom sought by Smoke and Stack could now get an immortal promotion, so to speak. Working within a counterculture to the expectation of “leaving your sinning ways behind,” Ryan Coogler deepens the roots further by linking their arrival and objectives to the long-held fears of demon possession—proverbial “deals with the devil”—connected to music. These foreboding prophecies make Sammie the crucial fulcrum between purity and sin gaining their share of souls.
LESSON #4: HISTORICAL MYTHS TOLD THROUGH MUSIC– Music itself is the third, final, and richest mythical component of Sinners. It is the medium swirling together and uniting the other yarns and sagas at hand. Music becomes the conduit for the noble and wicked efforts thrust together in this juke joint after everything changes at sunset. Leave it to the bequeathed history, vocalized dreams, and wailing laments of blues music to be the perfect musical genre to be the backbone of this myth forged for Coogler by two-time Academy Award winner Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Oppenheimer) and his unparalleled genius for unique auras.
As the hot-and-sweaty energy at the opening night peaks, the Swedish dynamo, who’s been empowering the resonator guitar in breakout star Miles Caton’s arms all movie long with sublime rhythm masking a dirge of dread, unleashes the full power of his orchestra to assist Black Panther choreographer Aakoman Hasani Jones in a lengthy and massive amalgamation montage filling the stage and dance floor. Blended eras of music—past and present—manifest themselves as costumed performers playing instruments and gyrating side-by-side with our period-set ensemble cast in a deliriously stunning sequence. The cultural cacophony and ethnic explosion are unlike anything you’ve ever seen, as cinders blend into the nighttime stars as all involved metaphorically burn the house down. Echoing its artistic ties to octogenarian and Hall of Famer Buddy Guy as an involved inspiration, no vibe is going to top Sinners the rest of this year. Hand Ludwig Göransson his third Oscar now.
The matching visuals of Sinners are no less sterling and jaw-dropping than the auditory superiority. Ryan Coogler and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (The Last Showgirl and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) shot the picture on 65mm film, soaking up every drop of blood, bead of perspiration, and Louisiana location sunbeam with pristine detail. Supported by his longtime editor Michael Shawver, Coogler took the opportunity with this large format to sway and cavort Sinners between 1.43:1 and 2.76:1 aspect ratios. Flowing in a way to emulate a widened gaze for alarm and a squinted stare for focus, the morphing effect is dazzling for the IMAX screen you’d better be seeking out to watch this film on.
If there is a challenge to this entertaining and mythic finery with Sinners, it’s the overall tempo. The methodical start and setup span just over an hour before even the hint of a pointy incisor shows up in a character’s mouth. Despite the enriching character establishment bolstered by Michael B. Jordan’s double commitment and choice monologues from Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku at key moments to affirm the underlying drama, patience may be required by those frothing at the mouth for the advertised biting, slashing, and stabbing. Likewise, those who need spoon-fed lore may not tolerate the intentional ambiguity and random arrival represented by Jack O’Connell, his speechifying, contagious glowing eyes, and Irish jig skills.
When Sinners flicks its light switch off for its hellacious night of violence, the movie becomes a whole other gaudy thing. The momentum shifts from snake oil poured into ears to the speed of gushing arteries and the fully automatic rat-ta-tat of a Tommy gun. Depending on the viewer, this snap plays like a highly anticipated roller coaster drop or a tailspin of swerving nonsense. However, because twisted fates are happening to characters who received legitimate plot attention and captured our admiration, the risks are made that much more suspenseful while buzzards of death, decay, and darkness regularly circle Sinners’ settings.
Ryan Coogler gives everything an important story, and, in the end, that concentration matters most. Steeped in all of these mythos and even more unmentioned sublayers of symbolism and imagery curated by a fleet of hired cultural consultants and their seals of approval, Sinners becomes grander and more profound than simply a sandbox genre experiment answering silly Hollywood pitches like “Black people versus vampires.” This filmmaker is above that nonsense. Lastly, there’s a prominent warning line in Sinners of “If you keep dancing with the devil, one day he’ll follow you home.” Good golly, this film—dripping with booze, blood, sweat, swagger, and tears–will stick with you and do just that.
LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1297)
