Ryan Coogler’s vampire epic “Sinners” marks the director’s first original work that isn’t connected with an existing source material.
It is only his fifth film in an already prolific filmography, yet it already feels like something that he is grinding himself towards. Combining the epic, ambitious style of his blockbuster films “Creed” and “Black Panther”, plus his dramatic roots with “Fruitvale Station”, “Sinners” has the mark of a filmmaker who is free-spirited and oozing with confidence.
The film follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) in 1930s Mississippi, who return to their hometown to set up a juke joint that is meant to be a haven for fellow black folks in their community. On their opening night, they recruit their younger cousin Sammy (Miles Caton), a blues player and son of a preacher, who may have attracted powerful evil forces on their inaugural launch.
“Sinners” took a while to assemble its pieces altogether before settling on the supernatural aspects. Before their arrival, the twins spent almost a decade working in the trenches and dealing with crime bosses like Al Capone. This caused a rift among the people they’ve left behind, from former lovers to neighbors who are trying to live a clean life away from them. The film has a well-put-together ensemble that greatly impacts the emotional beats of its second half when the vampires try to take over and consume them one by one.
With a lengthy exposition to deal with, “Sinners” rewards its viewers with some of the best sequences of the year so far. When the crowd starts flocking into the juke joint and blues music plays, Ryan Coogler transcends his characters to interact with the past and the future, all living through the power of art. It’s powerful, all done in one take, that aptly utilizes the IMAX aspect ratio by going from 2.76:1 to 1.43:1 and puts Ludwig Göransson’s musical score to powerful effect.
There are a handful of other impressive sequences in “Sinners” that may come off as gimmicky in the hands of a less competent director. For one, its seemingly gratuitous ending proved to be cathartic, turning one of its loudest scenes into its most heartfelt.
“Sinners” is easily Ryan Coogler’s best film yet. It’s muscular and brave by way of Spike Lee and Antoine Fuqua. If he continues to deliver on this front in his next film, Coogler could very well be included in the elite league of his black filmmaker contemporaries.
“Sinners” is now showing in cinemas.
Featured photos from Warner Bros. Pictures.
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