Sinners
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” may be a film of a disruptible genre, and a furiously entertaining one to boot, but it also gives you a lot to consider afterwards. This is unlike anything he’s made previously, whether it’s a “Black Panther” film or “Creed” or “Fruitvale Station,” but they all have a common purpose- to explore Black identity. The genre elements are baked into the narrative, but they ultimately serve the themes he’s exploring. The more I think about it, the more I love it.
One of the crucial elements of any Coogler film- even “Wakanda Forever”- is what role Michael B. Jordan’s character will play in the narrative. Here, the actor plays dual roles as twin brothers (Smoke and Stack) whom are returning to a small Mississippi town in the 1930s for the first time in decades. They’ve been through war, and the streets of Capone’s Chicago, together. They’ve traveled the world. Now, they come home to create a haven for the townsfolk to drink, to gamble, and to listen to some great jazz together. The power of evil is a strong one, though, and whether they make it through the night is up to some very crucial choices.
Music is among the most potent contributors to a film’s success. In “Sinners,” Coogler makes it a focal point of the drama. The film begins with a young man, Sammie (aka Preacher Boy, played magnificently by Miles Caton), driving to his father (played by Saul Williams)’s church. He’s got a portion of a broken guitar neck in his hand. What we will come to discover is that Sammie is Smoke and Stack’s younger cousin, as well as a blues legend in the making. There’s something about the way that he plays that gets to the heart of music, and the blues, something even an old blues man like Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) has to respect. At the start of the film, we hear of legends of people whose music transcends the boundaries of the living and the dead, the past and the future, but with such talent comes the ability to call upon a great evil. There’s a sequence in the middle of this movie as audacious and stunning in its ambition as any in recent memory, and it is the pivotal moment of the movie for the main characters. It’s not surprising that Ludwig Göransson- the two-time Oscar winning composer for Coogler’s past films, and Christopher Nolan’s last two- is a producer on this film; I’m sure that when Coogler pitched this film to him he had to be leaping out of his chair in excitement. There’s something distinctly modern, but also keeping with the musical sensibilities of the time, that is thrilling about Göransson’s music, and it’s some of the best work he’s ever done. Music is the lifeblood of this film, and this is an exceptional example of using it in film.
Coogler has bigger ideas than just giving a great showcase for his composer, however. “Sinners” is about the disease of white hate, and how it can infect anyone. Like so many others before him, he is using vampirism as a metaphor for real-world issues, and yes, this one hits it really on the nose, but it’s effective in how he’s uses it here. When Smoke and Stack buy the barn where their club will be built from the white owner, the owner reveals his prejudices clearly, but not enough for us to know his true endgame in making this deal. Throughout the film, we see moments of white supremacy and how it rears its head, as well as how the Black citizens of the town sometimes protect themselves from it. Smoke and Stack’s choice to return is to not only get away from the life they left behind in Chicago, but to take back some of the control white people have in their hometown. We also see them as they attempt to make amends with their past loves- Stack with Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), and Smoke with Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), who’s a conjuror who knows something of the supernatural, which will come in handy when a trio of white people come knocking on Club Juke’s doors this night.
As the film- strikingly shot on film, including IMAX scenes, by Autumn Durald Arkapaw- moves through its 137 minute running time (which both tests our patience for a horror film while also rewarding it as we get more narrative during the credits), I was struck by the choices and references that Coogler made. One might be surprised how this is, ultimately, a “one crazy night” movie when the film kicks off, but when you consider the character of Sammie ends up in the same place- albeit different- at both beginning and end, it really works. The film also feels like it owes a debt to “From Dusk Till Dawn,” while also putting its own spin on the concept. We get visuals from chain gang films; gangster movies and Southern Gothic drama of all flavors. There’s a lot to take in with “Sinners” and I loved it all, and that just made me appreciate Coogler’s ambition all the more. He sets the bar high for all who come after him this year, as well as for himself moving forward.
