SINNERS [2025]

(2025)
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Written by: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton

USA

IN CINEMAS NOW

RUNNING TIME: 137 mins

REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera

Mississippi 1932; a man with a large claw mark on his face staggers to his father’s church, clinging to a broken guitar neck. Claiming that music has dangerous supernatural power, his father asks him to give it up and repent. The day before, identical twins Smoke and Stack return to Mississippi after serving in World War 1 and spending several years in Chicago. Using money stolen from Chicago gangsters, they buy a sawmill from landowner Hogwood, planning to start a juke joint for the local black community. They recruit guitarist Sammie, piano and harmonica player Delta Slim, and singer Pearline, in addition to Smoke’s estranged wife Annie and Chinese shopkeepers Grace and Bo Chow to cater opening night, while Stack awkwardly reunites with his white ex-girlfriend Mary whom he abandoned. The evening starts off well, but there are some vampires in the area….

The camera moves around without a cut as the people dance to the blues, the energy level going higher and higher as figures and sounds from past and future join in the frenzy, which eventually moves outside but has heated things up to much that the whole building is set on fire and falls to bits right in front of them, though they don’t notice – and only now does the camera cut. It’s the most bravura sequence in cinema that we’ve seen for a while, evoking that amazing feeling when you’re in a place where music is being played and the vibe is so incredible that it’s basically a spiritual experience, while also bending time to provide more context for the blues music that’s really the emotional centre of this film, a form of music essentially born out of pain. Ryan Coogler might have hit the commercial jackpot with Creed and especially Black Panther, but here, in what’s a much more personal outing inspired by stories told by and the music played by his uncle, he’s given himself the opportunity to show off, and why not? We live in a time where this kind of thing isn’t really done much, as if people are thought not to want films that scream they’re films. This one, which takes place over around 24 hours, is probably known more as a horror film more than anything else, and there is certainly horror in it, but most of it is in the second half, and Sinners is far more a musical film in general – not a musical where characters suddenly burst into song [well not entirely!] but a film where its music is interwoven into the plot, the characters, the setting and the whole atmosphere. Some might say that too much of it is setup, that it’s too long before the action starts and the blood flows. I’d say to them that, while it’s fine if they prefer thrills from the right off and don’t like waiting, they’ve missed what the film’s really about, the vampires playing a more metaphorical role than anything else.

After a line about how sometimes the playing of musicians attracts forces from other dimensions, we understandably open in dramatic fashion as Sammie, in pain, approaches his dad Jedidiah’s church, holding on desperately clinging to a broken guitar neck. He opens the main door and interrupts the service that’s going on in there, a service being conducted by his father, who thinks and tells him that music – or at least the music that his son plays –  is dangerous. We cut to the previous day at around the same time. Identical twins and World War 1 veterans Smoke and Stack-have just returned to Mississippi after being in Chicago for a bit, explaining to some old friends that it’s not the racial paradise that they were hoping for. Using money they stole from Chicago gangsters [which sets up a plot element that’s never followed up on], they’ve just bought a sawmill from landowner Hogwood, planning to create a jukebar. After an uneasy final encounter with the rather racist Hogwood, they decide to open the place that very evening, which requires a lot of things to be done very quickly. Fortunately Chinese shopkeepers  Grace, Bo Chow and Grace’s mother are around to help, though one wonders how they manage to do everything that they do and still maintain the shop. In the first of the film’s many long tracking shots, we follow Grace out of the main part of the shop and into a room where her mother is; we then follow her mother back into the shop. Stack catches a teenage girl smoking and asks her to sit in his lorry keeping eye while he’s inside; her tooting brings him rushing out to casually shoot one guy in the bum and another in the knee. Yes, these twins are gangsters so basically bad men, but we really want their enterprise to succeed, and by god Michael B. Jordan is so charismatic!

We follow Stack around as he recruits three musicians; young guitarist Sammie who’s ignored his preacher father who’s against this stuff [though he’s never demonised, which is nice], heavy-drinking piano and harmonica player Delta Slim, and singer Pearline. These scenes are perfectly pitched, with just a little bit of humour, and watching them isn’t much different from watching a warrior recruit other warriors to help him fight in defense of a beleaguered village. Stack also tries to hide from, then get rid of, ex-girlfriend Mary. She’s upset that Stack abandoned her to go north; he responds that it’s not practical for a white woman to marry a black man. Smoke goes to recruit his ex-wife Annie and argues with her about her interest in the occult. Annie claims that her rituals kept the twins safe, but Smoke responds that their infant daughter still died. They still have sex very soon after that moment, which might sound daft but is sold by the actors. And Sammie meets a lady named Beatrice who tells him that she’s married, though still seems to be sexually interested in him. The big evening is nearing, and now the vibe is very much like “let’s put on a show”. However, something bad happens nearby. Remmick, an Irish immigrant on the run from roving Native Americans of the Choctaw tribe who later turn out to be vampire hunters [I don’t think this should be considered a spoiler seeing as this idea is another that’s never followed through, though it suggests interesting pathways for a sequel should Coogler consider one], bribes Klansman couple – Bert and Joab, for refuge before turning them into vampires in a creepy scene with fine use of darkness in some shots. The jukebar opens to a great crowd who get into the music right away; we must remember that African-Americans had far less of such places to go to at the time. The trusting Stack and the compassionate Annie cajole the cynical Smoke into giving discounts to customers who cannot afford to pay more, and then the live music begins. However, it attracts the attention of Remmick, Bert and Joan – and soon after that other vampires.

The tension during the section that bridges the cross into horror action is masterfully built up and maintained, making superb use of the one simple task that some folk in vampire films just can’t stick to; don’t let them in. Many conventional tropes are employed, and you have to sigh when Annie teaches people that only a wooden stake or silver can kill vampires, though to be fair this exceedingly well known fact might have been less well known back then and in this environment. And these vampires still have some uniqueness. Led by real-life Irish folksinger Landj, they’re like Satanic tempters the way that they try to lure people close to them outside, and they also resort to singing and dancing themselves. They prat on about creating a world of equality and togetherness, which we’re probably asked to think would sound appealing to many black people there; there’s no segregation and from what we see no discrimination at all if you’re a vampire. But they have an unpleasant habit of drooling over potential victims just before they go for the jugular. Some considerable suspense is created when our major characters who’ve survived so far all eat garlic; one person has a had reaction so could be a vampire, but it turns out that garlic always creates a bad reaction in this person. These bloodsuckers create very large bite wounds and aren’t afraid to be sexual in a way that we see less of these days, but they do occasionally behave rather stupidly and this goes for those on the side of good too, though I only picked up on this after the film had finished and I thought about things. One character’s sudden transformation into a gun-blazing action hero near the end is a bit jolting at first, but I quickly accepted it, and by now things have actually become a bit emotional!

Coogler’s script sometimes reminds us of the distinction between authentic cultural expression [here blues music] and the beliefs regarding such cultural expression imposed by others and through history, and another way these vampires are used is to represent a cultural takeover, a draining away. A lot of the vampires are white, though certainly not all, so we don’t get the unpleasant racial messaging that’s rather too prominent these days. Coogler doesn’t preach, he doesn’t ram home the points that he’s making, even though they’re still most certainly there – how could they not be? One can find Sinners a rich and satisfying movie experience without thinking about any socio-political stuff whatsoever, but the latter is still definitely there if you want it – and there are things that I haven’t mentioned. Coogler’s depiction of the environment his film is set in feels extremely authentic and it’s very hard to believe that Miles Caton [Sammie], has never acted in a movie before; he has a lot of confidence without seeming to try hard to exude it. Of course Jordan sometimes steals the show in his dual role. The digital effects employed when both are in the same shot are nothing short of seamless, which is more than I say for some visuals that look half-finished towards the end of the film. Why? Just why? But Jordan certainly does well in differentiating the twins – Smoke is commanding and wise whereas Stack is prone to making mistakes and a lighter presence –  without it seeming forced, and he’s basically interacting with himself at times. I must say though, for me it was Delroy Lindo who created the most lasting impression. An always strong presence often in roles that don’t really make use of his talents [though let me right now give a shout out for his stunning performance in the leading role of Spike Lee’s largely ignored Da 5 Bloods], he’s extremely touching here as Delta; seeing this washed up musical genius become inspired again is an absolute joy. Most major charactere are well sketched and clearly have flaws as well as good points.

Everything is set to a terrific musical score from Ludwig Göransson, a composer whom I’ve never until now rated particularly highly, but who here does an amazing job in employing authentic blues and country sounds and blending them with subtle electronics which you could say itself serves as its own commentary on matters. And things conclude in a rather poignant post-credits scene – which admittedly would be better have been placed just before said end credits so that every person watching the film sees it – which offers a turn in the narrative that makes sense in addition to providing some real emotion without gushing into sentimentality. We’re reminded, for the very last time, about the spiritual beauty, power and meaningfulness of music, which might be the best thing in the world – or is that movies? And I have to say again. What a night! What a moment in time – or times.