Sinners Movie Review

Smoke and Stack wait for their appointment.

Source: Warner Bros.

Overall: 9.6/10

Story 9.5/10

In 1932, black twin brothers return to the South from fast-paced Chi-Town with blood money and a dream. They aim to start something new in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

They employ a blues player so gifted, he can connect the past to the future. But his tunes draw evil like moths to a flame. What could go wrong?

Ryan Coogler uses every morsel of music, dialogue and character to tell this story. 

Coogler uses music to draw a dichotomy between those who create culture and those who seek to devour and corrupt it through assimilation for their profit.

The dialogue is meticulous and used methodically. It's laced with rich accents and sometimes comes from surprising places. But it reveals character and propels the story forward in interesting ways.

The pacing is excellent. Coogler spends time letting the audience get to know the characters. And it’s time well spent. The characters are treated as more than fodder for the spectacle of bloodletting. They are an investment for the audience.

Because viewers care about the characters, when something happens to one, the scene hits harder than it ordinarily would in a typical horror movie.

Stack falls into temptation.

Source: Warner Bros.

Character 9.7/10

Stack (Michael B. Jordan) is a smooth criminal. He has a mind for business and a gift for gab.  Whatever fix his charm can’t get him out of, his brother will. 

Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) is a man of few words. He lets his actions do most of the talking. And if you’re on his bad side, it’s best not to have that conversation. He wants freedom for himself and those he considers family. He believes that money and power are the keys to that goal. And God help you if you stand in his way.

Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) wars with himself. He has a decision to make. His father and the church beckons on one side. The blues stand on the other.  One thing is certain. Sammie was born to have a guitar in his hands.

Grace Chow (Li Jun Li) navigates between the lanes of race and socioeconomics in a time and place where it's difficult to do such things. Even so, she is unable to escape the ugliness of race politics and colonialism.

Mary (Hailey Steinfeld) wrestles with her identity. She is forced to be something she isn't. Tragedy separates her from the tie to her blackness. The circumstances of the period separate her from her true community and the love of her life. But she's willing to sacrifice everything to get them back.

Remmick (Jack O'Connell) is a complex character. On the one hand, he's a swindler—a seller of pipe dreams. Because he’s been around a long time, he’s well-versed in human frailties. It makes them easier to prey upon.

But his character comes from a colonized group. So he's seen the evils of colonialism. Even with that experience, he doesn't seek to end or defeat the system. Instead, he wants to sit at the top of it.

Remmick dresses up his version of colonialism as a means of unification. At the same time, he employs the same means as a vampire that the colonizers do to achieve that purpose.

From Left to Right, Mary, Stack and Sammy prepare to make a stand.

Source: Warner Bros.

Final Thoughts

Coogler proves himself a maestro yet again. Sinners is a masterful horror film with an original take on vampires. Much like George A. Romero with Night of the Living Dead, and Jordan Peele with Get Out and Nope, he uses the horror genre to take an interesting look at culture, colonialism and race politics. His installment on the matter leaves him in good company.