Horror movies are the one genre that I approach with trepidation as I’m scared of jumps and things that go bump in the night.
Micheal B Jordan, who stars in both lead roles as identical twins, stated in a recent interview that he doesn’t like watching them either, so I began this film watching through my fingers.
I shouldn’t have worried, as SINNERS is a serious drama about the struggles of blacks in the Mississippi Delta during the 1930’s. It just has vampires and steamy atmospheric music too!
Director Ryan Coogler has made some brilliant films such as Creed, Black Panther and the sequel Wakanda Forever. If anyone deservers a passion project, its him and he has gone to town here with a full-on cinematic knock over the head. There is so much going on its hard to know where to start.
Its clear Micheal B Jordan and Coogler enjoy working with each other as you can see that they and the rest of the cast are having a blast.
Micheal B Jordan plays gangster twins Stack and Smoke, World War 1 veterans who have been working for the Mob in Chicago. Smoke has a more dangerous and threatening air while Stack is the charming but reckless brother. Both are played with conviction and charisma by Jordan who cements his super-star status.
The brothers leave Chicago with a dangerous amount of money stolen from the Mafia and return to Mississippi, where they partner with their blues- loving cousin Sammie to open a Black owned juke joint despite threats from the KKK. However, they soon face an even more sinister and supernatural threat.
The story is rip-roaringly entertaining with fantastic set pieces set to toe-tapping music, but there is an important message running through it. The vampires are a symbol of the leech like effect that society can have on black culture and identity. Its like the demons want to appropriate these characters, leaving them empty of meaning. By literally sucking the life out of them, it is a metaphor of the experience of black lives during 20thCentury America.
SINNERS is a film about fighting for what is yours, which is a common message in much of Coogler’s work. I think what is brilliant about his movies is he filters real and imagined black histories through the prism of blockbuster entertainment.
It is phenomenally shot in 70mm film, which helps project colour and detail and makes you feel like you are in the deep south in the swamps and stifling heat. The production has this sexy southern gothic horror feel and is infused with blues music that is sultry and sweaty.
The supporting cast which includes Hailee Steinfeld as Mary, Miles Caton as Sammie, Saul Williams as Jedidiah and Jack O’Connell as Remmick are superb. It really feels like an ensemble piece.
The sets are true to the gothic feel and don’t feel too heightened or exaggerated which helps it feel authentic even when the vampires appear.
SINNERS could have easily become just another vampire genre popcorn movie, but the team of Michael B Jordan and Coogler have hit the jackpot again with this refreshingly original take of a well-trodden path.
Audiences seem to agree, as SINNERS may well become the NO1. film of the year.