SINNERS: 4 STARS. “delivers on both the pulpy and poignant aspects of the story.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Sinners,” a new Southern Gothic now playing in theatres, Michael B. Jordan stars in a dual role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, World War I veterans who came of age as part of Al Capone’s gang in Chicago. With a bag of Capone cash, some illegal prohibition hootch and a hope for a new beginning, they buy an old sawmill in their Southern, Jim Crow-segregated hometown with the intention of opening a juke joint. When Remmick (Jack O’Connell) shows up at their door, they are exposed to an evil like they’ve never experienced before. “You keep dancing with the devil,” says a preacher, “one day he’s going to follow you home.”
CAST: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li, and Delroy Lindo. Directed by Ryan Coogler.
REVIEW: Rich in detail, ambitious in its themes and knee deep in blood, “Sinners” defies easy categorization. Director Ryan Coogler calls the movie mashup “genre fluid,” and even that clever descriptor doesn’t come close to capturing the width and breadth of the story.
What begins as a portrait of brotherly ambition in the Jim Crow South broadens to become a story of building community, the spiritual impact of music and racism filtered through a Southern Gothic lens. That it is also a kickass vampire flick, with overtones of African folklore, doesn’t feel like an overstep. Great speculative fiction is never only about the scares or the monsters; they are comments on the society in which they are set. Coogler’s vampires are bloodthirsty predators hell bent on consuming the cultural identity of Smoke, Stack and their Juke Joint customers.
The film’s climax, (SLIGHT SPOILER) a battle between humans and vampires isn’t simply a blood splattered way to bring the movie to a close. In context, it’s a fight for survival, both physical and cultural. The vampires are, of course, supernatural creatures, but the threat they represent feels all too human.
It’s heady stuff wrapped up in an entertaining package. Coogler regular Michael B. Jordan—their previous films include “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed,” “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”—impresses in the dual role of twin brothers. As Smoke he’s hardened, quick to temper. His take on Stack reveals a softer, more hopeful side. In totality it’s seamless work that doesn’t feel like a gimmick.
“Sinners” is ambitious, audacious and while it may rely a bit too heavily on flashbacks and feels like it goes a step or two too far to find its resolution, the boldness of its filmmaking delivers on both the pulpy and poignant aspects of the story.
