‘Sinners’ review: Ryan Coogler does not miss!
5/5
Vampire stories are a dime a dozen but if you let Ryan Coogler explore the themes present within our vampire lore, you are destined to win. And that’s exactly what Sinners does.
Coogler’s eighth project with Michael B. Jordan takes us to the south in a post-Al Capone world. Two twins (both played by Jordan) return home to try and make a club for their community, with liquor and jazz music flowing. For the most part, Sinners is about the connection we have to each other through music and community. But it has overarching themes of racism, hatred, bigotry, and, of course, vampires.
At one point during this movie, I truly saw an aspect ratio change and sat up on the edge of my seat. I was, as the kids say, locked in to whatever it was that Coogler wanted me to experience. Sammy (Miles Caton) is a young man whose preacher father doesn’t want him as connected to music as he is. But his cousins, the twins, encourage him to continue to explore his love of music.
It leads him to a night of self-discovery, including recognizing that vampires are real and terrifying and will do anything in their power to try and lure you into their trap.
The power of music Is like no other
Leaving the vampire of it all behind, Sinners poses an important question: What if music had the power to fight through all types of evil? That’s basically what happens when Sammy plays and the vampires are lured in by his ability. And the soundtrack for the film is one that I heard in the film and knew almost instantly that I wanted it played on a loop.
That’s the power of music for me and that’s what makes it such a special aspect of Sinners. If you’re connected to music, the right song can worm its way into your soul and stay there and that’s what the film is giving to us. Even the vampire’s Irish rock song kind of slapped.
But music is what drives Sammy, even when everything else feels overwhelming and terrifying, and that’s something I found deeply relatable. He’s being chased by literal vampires and that guitar, however broken, stays firmly in his hand. To me, that’s beautiful.
Never trust a demon (and that’s not just the vampires)
Coogler’s Sinners is such a smart look at race relations in the south during this time and uses the vampires almost as a red herring to the real demons who lurk in the daylight. The twins buy their new club off of a man they know was part of the KKK and yet they ignore the signs that this man cannot be trusted. Somehow vampires are more trust worthy than a white man.
But there is just so much about Sinners that leaves you thinking. It can be viewed as just a new take on folklore but I think that’s a disservice to what Coogler’s film represents. It is more than just a vampire movie but it is also hard to compound into one review.
Sometimes, you see a movie that you know you’re going to think about for a long while and that is, in this case, what Sinners has for us. A must-see in IMAX and truly a beautiful exploration of music, community, and what lurks in the darkness of us all.
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