There’s not a moment to miss in Ryan Coogler’s electrifying vampire movie.
Months after praising Bill Skarsgard’s performance and Robert Eggers’ direction in the new version of “Nosferatu,” we have another vampire movie that’s more than worth your time. And that movie would happen to be “Sinners,” the latest collaboration between writer/director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan and also their very best since “Black Panther.”
I can imagine the critics back in 1992, when they were hoping that “Innocent Blood” would be an original vampire movie with gangsters and an attractive actress Anne Parillaud. And the fact is that a majority of them were greatly disappointed that it didn’t reach its full potential. “Sinners” has Jordan playing twin gangster brothers named Smoke and Stack, and the gorgeous Hailee Steinfeld plays Stack’s former love Mary, who eventually becomes a vampire. Now, this is dangerous and delicious.
But it’s not just the vampires and twins we should be appreciating. “Sinners” also displays music that connects to both the past and present, as brilliantly demonstrated in one number that I want you to see to believe. I won’t spoil it for you, but I can tell you that Ludwig Goransson is both the composer and executive producer. And his work isn’t overexposed.
The time is Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1932, when the twins return from Chicago to buy a farm and open up a night club. Their collaborators include their younger musician cousin Sammie (newcomer Miles Caton), whose nickname is Preacher Boy because his father (Saul Williams) is a preacher; the harmonica musician Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), whose nickname agrees to perform for the money and Irish beer; the Voodoo conjurer Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), who is Smoke’s former lover; the cotton picker Cornbread (Omar Miller), who serves as the doorman; and the Chinese-American grocers Bo (Yao) and Grace Chow (Li Jun Li), who supply the food. And their customers and dancers include Mary and Sammie’s crush-the unhappily married Pearline (Jayme Lawson).
Unfortunately for them, the vampire Remmick (Jack O’Connell) raises an army of his clan, which includes now Mary, Stack, and Cornbread, as the trailers would promote. So complain to the promoters and not me. Ergo, it becomes a bloody night for the mortals. They better have some garlic, metal, guns, and wooden stakes with them.
As perfectly demonstrated in “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed,” and “Black Panther,” Coogler and Jordan both have a certain chemistry that allows us to see different versions of Jordan and how the director guides him. In “Sinners,” he’s able to play the twins with some help from special effects and stunt actors, and through the shift in tone and consistency, he delivers on both sides of the equation. And yet, he doesn’t try to steal the show.
Caton makes an impressive debut as the cousin who wants to make something of himself in the blues world and how he can take on the Jim Crow era. Steinfeld continues to broaden her horizons as a young actress, and playing an evil vampire is another fine example. Lindo has a lot of badass dialogue and attitude. And Mosaku is displays the right amount of emotions and consistency, especially with how she views magic as power, instead of money. So, we have a great cast in a great vampire movie.
I saw “Sinners” in IMAX yesterday and there’s not a moment to miss. Especially with the cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), the editing by Michael P. Shawver (another Coogler collaborator), the dance sequences, the music, the performances, the social commentary, and all the vampire attacks and fights one could ask for.
As I was watching this, I was thinking of how Jordan Peele has entered many horror territories with “Get Out,” “Us,” and “Nope.” Coogler delivers in his first horror movie by combining vampires with racial themes and music. Now, this is when you need to stay during and after the end credits.
