When I saw the first trailer for “Sinners,” released in theaters on April 17, I thought it looked fine. The plot was not easy to discern from the preview, and I had not seen much of director Ryan Coogler’s work. I liked lead actor Michael B. Jordan in “Black Panther,” the only other Coogler movie I had seen. Still, I did not expect much, and I did not rush to see it as soon as possible. After it came out, though, I saw people online buzzing about how much they had enjoyed it. So, the following weekend, I bought a ticket and saw it. I see now what all the raving is about. “Sinners” is not just a good movie, it is the best movie I have seen in theaters in years.
The film follows twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, both played by Jordan. The pair of charming criminals return to their Mississippi community after a long business venture in Chicago. Seeking funds, they take their cousin, Sammie, and some local friends to help open up a club on the outskirts of town. Sammie, portrayed by debuting actor Miles Caton, is an exceptionally talented musician whose performance at the club fulfills an ancient prophecy about music so good that it attracts ancient evil. The rest of the movie is the main characters trying to escape or destroy a group of vampires. It’s nearly halfway through the movie that the vampires first knock on the door. While it is an unconventional choice, this pacing decision made the main characters more grounded and fleshed out. In many horror movies, it is easy to root for the villain just to get to the most fun and scary scenes. In “Sinners”, the way Coogler crafted the characters makes you hope they can all stay alive, adding to the tension in every scene.
Every actor in “Sinners” gives a fantastic performance. Jordan played two entirely different characters who felt like separate people. This is an achievement for both Jordan and the film’s team of visual effects artists. There are numerous shots where Smoke and Stack are together, and they may be touching each other or talking with one another. It never feels fake or clunky, nor does it feel like an overused gimmick.
There are other great technical feats in the film’s visual effects, such as red, glowing eyes and sharp teeth on vampires, fake blood and gunshots. Everything in the movie, even those that aren’t computer-generated or faked, is a marvel to look at. Well-lit sets shot on IMAX cameras make for great, artistic scenes. Never once does a performance or design choice feel phoned in or amateur; it’s clear throughout the movie that the $90 million budget was well used.
While the simple horror and action aspects of the movie are great, those are not what it is actually about. “Sinners” is a representation of racial discrimination, specifically in the 1930s, and how different cultures can meld. Without spoiling too much, one of the primary vampires the characters face is implied to be an Irish immigrant. When someone is infected with vampirism, they join a sort of hive mind that combines their culture with all other cultures of infected persons. This even applies to people who are strictly against unity of this kind, like members of the Ku Klux Klan. They use this as one of the primary strategies to convince the club’s residents to let them in.
“Sinners” is a cinematic experience that I would absolutely recommend. While it is no longer available in IMAX, it is still showing in most theaters. For at-home releases, it is worth watching, but it is also certainly even more enjoyable in theaters.
