“Sinners” is writer/director Ryan Coogler‘s fifth feature film, but his first original screenplay. His previous films are either based on true events (“Fruitful Station”) or existing IP (“Creed” & “Black Panther“).  This is the first time we’ve seen what he can craft with his unbridled creativity.  Packed with culture, music, history, and lore, “Sinners” is one of the most audience-rewarding films in years.

The story revolves around twin brothers Smoker and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) as they return to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi.  Taking place over a single day and night in October in 1932, the brothers are on a mission to set up their own juke joint.  They aren’t the same young men who left years ago. After fighting in WW1 and running with Capone’s crew in Chicago, they’ve made (stolen?) a small fortune and intend to invest it where they were raised.

The first half of the movie is a slow burn, leaning into the “we need to assemble a team” trope popular in heist flicks.   Their first recruit is their cousin Sammy (Miles Caton) a young, talented guitar player, who also happens to be the local preacher’s son.  Next, they tap local married store owners Bo and Grace Chow (Yao & Li Jun Li) for supplies. Rounding out their blues band is Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) a bitter alcoholic who has little hope for the future.  Smoke and Stack also encounter their ex-lovers.  Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) is an expert in voodoo and the occult and had a child with Smoke, who passed.  Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who is white passing, was in love with Stack when he left town without warning.

Each of the characters is fleshed out and fascinating.  We want to know more about their lives and watch them interact with one another.  With how the film is shot and the attention to detail (that isn’t spoon-fed to the audience), at first “Sinners” feels like it could be a historic drama about the blues and life in the Jim Crow South.  To a certain point, it is. But this film also has an Irish vampire named Remmick (Jack O’Connell), who is attracted to the powerful music coming from the juke joint.

“Sinners” is a movie that is bigger than the sum of its parts.  To try and compare it to other movies is almost a disservice.  In some ways, it’s structured like “From Dusk ‘Till Dawmn.”  It relies on music so heavily, and includes multiple sequences that it’s arguably a musical.  It references lore and history from multiple cultures and ties them together with the timeless power of music.  There is a commentary about what it means to be a family and the sacrifices we make for those we love.  At one point, the vampire tempts the Smoke Stack Family with an easier life, as long as they can accept conformity.  If this all sounds very heavy, rest assured, there is still plenty of sex, violence, and moments the film wades into pure pulp.

It’s amazing how well Ryan Coogler weaves all these threads together into such an amazing film.  At times, it feels like it shouldn’t work, but it never falters for a second.  “Mickey 17” was criticized for trying to cram too many themes into a single cohesive movie, but “Sinners” does so much more and executes it perfectly.

 

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