Film Review: Sinners

In this day and age it is hard to find filmmakers who are able to create a style to their work that just cannot be replicated. Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro come to mind when you think of auteurs, which are filmmakers with their own identity. Ryan Coogler is a filmmaker that entered the film industry with the powerful film Fruitvale Station which started his collaboration with actor Michael B. Jordan. Together they proceeded to make Creed and Black Panther, two films that has redefined cinema and the culture of cinema, making a big impact of the whole industry. To say that there is a lot of excitement for Coogler’s next film would be an understatement. It just so happens his next film behind the camera is an original story about vampires with the film Sinners.

Sinners has filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s themes and style all over it. The camera work, harmony between music and image and the culture he displays are all here. A bit like with Creed and Black Panther, Coogler has an admiration for black culture and he re-defines it yet again within his format that pushes modern cinema in new and inventive ways. There are so many ways to describe this film but the best way I believe is this — What if Stephen King wrote a Tarantino film about vampires in 1930s America? That is very much what the film feels like but that just adds to the flavour and in-distinctiveness of the film.

The plot is engaging and also easy to follow. Twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both played by Michael B. Jordan, move back down south America in the 1930s to start a venture that involves opening a Juke bar. What the brothers don’t know is that a vampire has landed nearby in the form of Jack O’Connell’s Remmick and through the power of music, the brother’s cousin Sammie, manages to bring Remmick to their doorstep.

The music is the soul of the film in every way possible. I believe the film would not hold its identity without the soundtrack and score as the ballads and beats of each tune sings in rhythm with the story and the characters. Each song and tune holds meaning and subtext that digs into the themes of mortality, death and messages relating to the plot of the film. Ryan Coogler has crafted something wholly unique and original that just makes the film feel unlike anything else. From the dance scenes, to the musical lyricism each character holds, the film holds you under a hypnotic spell that has a deep southern rhythm that you can’t help but be entranced by. 

Sinners further proves Coogler’s capabilities as a filmmaker as he turns a very common trope of vampires versus gangsters into a cinematic masterpiece. Everything just looks and feels in sync with each other. The acting, the writing, and the cinematography just links everything together in an effortless way to tell a tale about music and the power it has over the supernatural, and transcending both past and future to blend into something other-worldly and ethereal.

★★★★★

5/5

Final Verdict:

Sinners is a lyrical ode to the deep south of America. It combines themes of death, family, mortality in a story that involves gangsters, sex, violence and more importantly music. The music is what makes the film work as well as it does, immersing you inside this world. It may be easy to compare this film to From Dusk Till Dawn, but Sinners manages to hold its identity firmly and confidently from start to finish. It also helps to have Michael B. Jordan in a role that was made for him and it makes you want to see more of his characters Smoke and Stack. 

Thanks for reading today’s blog!

Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions