Warner Bros.
“You will taste the sweet pain of death. We will make beautiful music together.” – Remmick (Jack O’Connell)
I sure had the blues last night and that certainly wasn’t a bad thing.
Sinners, produced, written, and directed by Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed), is a unique genre-bending feature film about the supernatural power of music and the evil it attracts…
Not crooked promoters or psychotic fans in this case, but vampires.
1932- identical twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan in a dual role), return to their home town of Clarksdale, Mississippi to start their own juke joint, funded by cash stolen from the Chicago mob.
They are fearless, tough and not to be trifled with, demonstrated by their steely determination in their dealings with the loathsome KKK man who sells them the venue..
The main attraction for opening night is their guitarist cousin Sammie, (Miles Caton), torn between using his incredible talents to entertain and the wrath of his controlling preacher father, who believes blues are the work of the devil. Meanwhile, Irish-immigrant vampire Remmick manages to escape Choctaw vampire hunters by taking refuge with a Klan couple, whom he transforms into the first of his legion of blood-suckers.
Come opening night, Sammie’s music entrances the audience and parts the veil of past and future, invoking the ghostly figures of performers from African tribesmen through 60s psychedelia to modern day beat-boxers mingling with the punters.
As the lush pre-credits animation tells us, this kind of transcendent music attracts Remmick and his vampire thralls… although they are initially sent away, (traditional lore says vampires have to be invited inside), Stack’s feisty ex Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) goes after them and is herself turned.
As Remmick’s undead army grows, he uses threats and promises to get Sammie and use his talents for his own nefarious purposes. Who will survive? And given the existence of true evil, who are the real sinners?
As you might have gathered, I really enjoyed this film.
The performances are great – Jordan brings his trademark star quality as well as bringing subtle differences between the twins rather than just different coloured headwear! Jack O’Connell shows reptilian charm as the bad guy, but the breakout here is newcomer Caton whose wide-eyed innocence, which suffice to say doesn’t last to the end of the film, and joyous musical performances mark him as someone to watch for the future. Hailee Steinfeld is also excellent as the conflicted Mary, forced to deny her black heritage by passing as white and stinging from Smoke’s rejection.
Thematically, the film deals with the conflict between religion and “the old ways” along with the black experience; without giving away any spoilers, Sammie’s pastor father doesn’t turn up brandishing a bible and a crucifix to save the day like some Deep South Van Helsing to save the day.
Belief in “Hoodoo” features large here – Stack’s partner. Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) is a practitioner and again avoiding spoilers, there is evidence that it works in this universe. Hardly a surprise when vampires and dimension-warping music exists too.
Sinners is atmospheric, action packed, is beautifully shot and puts a few new twists on classic vampire lore; the bloodsuckers here share collective intelligence, (if only it were that easy to develop the talent for Irish music that Remmick’s thralls are given!) rather like Star Trek’s Borg.
Remmick shares memories and skills whilst individuals do retain elements of their individual personalities. Yes, it’s a mite too long, but the visual storytelling flourishes (which on paper shouldn’t really work) elevate it above standard horror flicks. The magnificent soundtrack courtesy of composer Ludwig Göransson is, if you’ll excuse the pun, the lifeblood of this film and almost a character in its own right. Hopefully its oaring vocal harmonies and breathtaking Dobro work will get a nod in awards season as well as a few other categories to boot.
Not only is Sinners one of the best horror movies of the year, but one of the best movies, period. We can only hope that unlike the clearly influential From Dusk Till Dawn, it doesn’t spawn a plethora of watered-down sequels and TV shows.
Extras are plentiful and include several substantial featurettes and deleted scenes.
Recommended.
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