‘Sinners’ Review: Sinfully Delightful

The longtime collaboration between director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan is currently the best there is in Hollywood. No other director and star combo comes even close, and Sinners may just be their greatest so far. It’s a film that feels deeply personal to Coogler but also tailored perfectly for general action-loving audiences with its story of blues and belonging mixed alongside a brutal standoff against undead monsters. Featuring Jordan in dual roles, Sinners is sinfully delightful as it showcases two of the best in the business performing at the top of their game.

After making it in the big city of Chicago, twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return to their small hometown in Mississippi to open up a juke joint. All the locals know who the twins are and wouldn’t dare cross them, but most are excited to see them return and set up roots in their hometown again. As Smoke and Stack spend the day recruiting the best people around to make signs, make food, and make music for their big grand opening, trouble is brewing on the outskirts of town when a couple of outsiders with bloodred eyes come looking for an invite.

Sinners is two distinct movies wrapped into one. In addition to Smoke and Stack, the film introduces Miles Caton’s Sammie as a gifted guitar player and singer. Part of the lore revolves around how there are generational talents whose music reverberates through the past and future to connect all musicians together. One of the best scenes in the film is when Sammie plays in front of the crowd at the juke joint for the first time. As he sings and strums his guitar, the camera dances around the entire joint in a stunning oner where musicians from all cultures, past and present, weave in and out of view. Music has a way of bringing people together, and Coogler illustrates that beautifully in this one scene. Canton excels as Sammie in his feature film debut as well. He’s quiet and reserved when he’s just talking with other people, but put a guitar in his hands and the voice of a blues angel comes out. In a world full of sinners, Sammie is the saint.

It’s Sammie’s music that attracts the attention of Remmick (Jack O’Connell), a vampire who is looking to expand his “family” and has selected Smoke and Stack’s new juke joint as his feasting ground. Sinners makes use of your standard vampire rules; no sunlight, aversion to garlic, stake through the heart, must be invited in, etc. but Coogler uses it to maximum effect to make them utterly terrifying. Oftentimes they emerge from the shadows, their glowing red eyes being the thing you see first. Next thing you know it, they’re jumping through the air, ready to pounce on their unsuspecting victim and turn them into one of their own. Their scenes are quick, brutal, and most of all bloody. The second half of the film plays out more like From Dusk Till Dawn as Smoke, Stack, Sammie, and whoever is left alive hold down the juke joint and defend themselves from the surrounding vampires. It’s a stark contrast from the relatively quiet first half which is mostly spent getting to know all these characters who are going to be stuck inside. It just makes it all the more tense knowing that some of them won’t make it to the morning alive.

Ryan Coogler intertwines blues and vampires into a film unlike anything I’ve seen in a long time. Every shot reaches for the horizon, every note rings deep within your soul, and every character fights for a passion worth dying for. I can’t help but think about Robert Johnson and the legend that he went down to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in order to be a blues legend. The film exemplifies the give and take of every choice and blues couldn’t be a better conduit. Near eternal life might sound like a great deal, but what if you can never see the sun rise again or taste the deliciousness of a meal? Natural talent is great too, but a tradeoff has to be made at some point to reach that next level of stardom. Sinners is a symphony of booze, blood, and blues that oozes character out of every frame as it explores that give and take of life’s choices. The vampires may draw you in, but it’s Ryan Coogler’s masterful storytelling that will leave you thirsting for more.