Sinners
Even vampires get the blues
Michael B. Jordan is twice as good in a dual role.
Twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) have returned to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, after World War I. The rumors were that the brothers got out of the armed services and started working for Al Capone up in Chicago.
While what precisely Smoke and Stack were doing up north is a bit of a mystery, their current goal isn’t: The men want to buy a piece of land and open up a juke joint. They have big plans and announce they’re opening the day they purchase the land.
The brothers spend the day busy. Smoke goes to procure the liquor and the food, while Stack gets the music. Stack’s first stop is to recruit their little cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a preacher’s son who dreams of playing the blues onstage, and then he makes an offer to blues pianist/alcoholic Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo). Along the way, both brothers bump into their lost loves. Smoke encounters Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), a hoodoo priestess who still loves Smoke and mourns their lost child. Stack, meanwhile, bumps into Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), a woman who’s passing and married to a white man in Arkansas, though she still desperately loves Stack.
With the music, food, personal business, and staff taken care of, now all the brothers have to do is wait for the people to come.
Unfortunately for Smoke and Stack, not everyone who shows up at the juke joint is alive. Sammie’s raw talent and soulful playing has attracted the ear of Remmick (Jack O'Connell), a vampire who’s moved beyond measure by Sammie’s music. He brings with him an undead crew that will siege the juke joint if Stack and Smoke don’t think of a way to stop it. Can the brothers keep everyone alive until dawn?
Think of Sinners like From Dusk Till Dawn if it had a master’s degree in music history. This is a vampire movie, not so much about the scares, but about the metaphors. Thoughtful, engaging, and soulful, this is a movie that demands to be seen.
To director Ryan Coogler, sinners are in the eye of the beholder. It’s not just the vampires who society would deem evil — Smoke and Stack clearly have a criminal background and have no qualms shooting people who wrong them. Annie would be considered a “heathen” for her religious practices and shunned for having a baby out of wedlock with Smoke. Mary is carrying on an affair with a black man (something that could easily get her and her affair partner killed in 1930s Mississippi), and also passing for white (considered a betrayal of race by the white overlords of the time). Even Sammie, who seems pretty innocent, shuns his father’s austere teaching to revel in music and sex at the juke joint.
But what sins matter and what sins don’t? And who gets to judge?
It’s an interesting question, and one Coogler poses over and over in Sinners.
The director is also fascinated with the evolution of music and how one genre influences another. There is a breathtaking sequence during Sammie’s juke joint performance where he not only plays his heart out but evokes all the people and cultures that helped the music he’s playing evolve. It’s a powerful scene, and likely to be one of the most memorable cinematic moments of the year.
Even Remmick, who is trying to eat the patrons of the juke joint, is beguiled by the music. He shares his own, and it demonstrates how Irish and Scottish folk music influenced the evolution of the blues. Coogler and composer Ludwig Göransson have carefully pieced this together, showing the audience how culture and climate can form music and artists. It’s a brilliant theme, and one that Coogler teases out wonderfully.
Frequent Coogler collaborator Michael B. Jordan shines in Sinners with a dual role. Jordan makes Stack and Smoke distinct characters, and it’s pretty easy to tell them apart, even when not made explicit. Stack is brash and mouthy, willing to turn on the charm and finagle his way into a deal. Smoke is stoic and grim. He’s a realist who sees problems coming from a mile away, especially those caused by his brother.
As for their love interests, each one suits their partner perfectly. Mary is just as brash as Smoke, openly resentful that she has to pass when she really wants to be with her community. Annie is steely and quiet, never one to suffer a fool, but never one to make a scene either. In fact, it’s Annie’s deep knowledge of folklore and quick thinking that saves the group from Remmick’s initial onslaught.
In a world where there’s a new vampire movie every 4 months, the genre can seem a bit stale. Coogler manages to not only find a refreshing angle on a familiar tale but also wrap it in cultural and political significance. This isn’t just a “monster movie,” it’s a piece of art, and one that needs to be appreciated.
Verdict: Ryan Coogler steps up as our next great director with this soulful look at the power of music over monsters and men.
Sinners is rated R and is in theaters April 18
