‘Sinners’ Review

Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo | Written and Directed by Ryan Coogler

The latest film from writer-director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther), Sinners is a thrillingly original vampire movie that plays like From Dusk Til Dawn in the Deep South. As sinful and sexual as its title suggests, it’s a richly detailed, emotionally engaging period drama that’s packed with terrific performances and has a soundtrack to die for…and then the vampires show up and things get properly crazy.

After a brief teaser of a prologue, the film opens in 1932, with the Smokestack twins, Smoke and Stack (both played by Coogler’s regular leading man, Michael B. Jordan) returning to their home town of Clarksdale, Mississippi after time spent first in the trenches of WWI and then in Chicago, where they apparently ran with Al Capone. Their intention is to open a juke joint, so after buying an old mill from former Klansman Hogwood (David Maldonado), they set about recruiting locals to help get the place ready for a barn-stormer of an opening night.

First on their list is their young cousin, Sammie Moore (newcomer Miles Caton), the son of the local preacher, who has an incredible voice and a divine talent with a blues guitar. Other notables include: worldly-wise harmonica and piano player Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo); married Chinese store owners Bo Chow (Yao) and Grace (Li Jun Li); unhappily married singer Pearline (Jayme Lawson) and the Smokestack twins’ ex-girlfriends, well-heeled white woman Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) and Hoodoo healer Annie (Wunmi Mosaku).

With the players in place, the twins’ opening night gets off to a cracking start, as passions are awakened and the music gives everyone involved a taste of freedom and joy. Then a gang of vampires show up – lead by jig-dancing Irish upstart Remmick (Jack O’Connell) – and lay siege to the juke joint, forcing everyone inside to fight for their lives.

It’s fair to say that there’s a lot going on in Sinners – indeed, for the first hour, the movie is a richly thematic Deep South drama with no hint of the supernatural at all. But that first hour is just as enjoyable as the vampire-based carnage that follows, thanks to a compelling script that explores several fascinatingly complex themes, from the liberating power of music to the brothers finding independence through 1930s gangsterism.

Later on, Coogler even finds a new metaphor for vampirism itself, which is presented as its own type of liberating cult, where everyone is equal and can live forever. To that end, Rennick is almost like an evangelical preacher, albeit with a propensity to break out in an Irish jig.

With so many ideas swirling about, Coogler does a terrific job of keeping it all together, and his direction is thrilling throughout, practically fizzing with seductive, swaggering energy. His coup de grace comes in a transcendent moment before the vampires show up, where Sammie’s music seemingly connects the past and the future, in visually breathtaking style, accompanied by a dynamite blues-infused soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson.

The performances are a delight across the board. Jordan, in particular, delivers a pair of powerfully charismatic turns as the twins, sparking smoking hot chemistry with both Steinfeld and Mosaku in the process. Similarly, Caton is superb as Sammie, generating heat of his own with Lawson’s Pearline, while there’s typically great work from Lindo and an unexpectedly fiery turn from Li Jun Li.

When the vampire action finally kicks off, Sinners delivers handsomely, packing in plenty of blood and gore and raising the emotional stakes, in addition to the wooden ones. In addition, the film looks sumptuous throughout, thanks to gorgeous cinematography from the delightfully named Autumn Durald Arkapaw.

In short, Sinners is a bracingly original vampire movie that’s doubly exciting because it shows what Coogler is capable of when he’s working on his own projects – he was already terrific when working on someone else’s IP (Rocky, Marvel), but this is on a whole new level. Make no mistake, this is one of the best films of the year. Oh, and make sure you stick around for some rewarding post-credits scenes.

**** 4/5

Sinners is in cinemas now.