By: Kimberly Grant
I’ve never been a fan of horror films. They can attract unwanted spirits that attach themselves to an audience member or an actor. Just ask the cast and filmmakers of Poltergeist. So, when I had an opportunity to see Sinners I was conflicted.
Sinners opens nationwide starting April 18 (Good Friday).
Christian Conflict
As a church-going Christian, my first issue with this film was the title. I didn’t want to write about something that glorified the devil. Having seen the trailer, I also had issue with the fact that it’s a horror film. But knowing that Ryan Coogler wrote and directed the film and we get to see Michael B. Jordan times two, made me want to see it.
Two talented men made a film and their previous collaborations were successes, starting from Fruitvale Station. Clearly, my curiosity about the story as a whole won out against my resolve to not watch a horror film. The movie is quite unexpected, like the various jump scares it contains. Even though the film is meant to be scary, the jump scares actually made me laugh. That said, I do question why Warner Bros. chose to release the film on Good Friday.
In Sinners, The Twins, Smoke and Snatch (both played by Jordan) are men looking to leave their troubled pasts behind and start fresh in their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. They buy an old salt mill and in one day turn it into Club Juke. A major part of their grand opening that night is to gather together the best musicians in Clarksdale and all the other talented people of color in the town.
A Soft Character Introduction Never Hurt Anyone
In the hands of Coogler, we get a soft introduction of each major player against the backdrop of 1932 Mississippi replete with racism. In this era of American history, the blacks work the cotton plantations barefoot from sun up to sun down, just as they did before slavery was abolished. The only difference is now they are making “a wage” if you can call it that. Their earnings are mostly wooden tokens that can be used only at the plantation. Most of them aren’t actually making real money for their work.
Smoke and Stack’s cousin, Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore (Miles Caton), who starts this fateful day picking cotton and telling his parents that he’s going to pursue his music that night. Sammie is integral to the story and we’ll get to that later. In the meantime, Sammie’s father, Pastor Jedidiah (Saul Williams) warns his son about the devil and his music.
Speaking of the devil, Jack O’Connell plays (spoiler alert!) a vampire named Remmick. Remmick wants to build a following using “fellowship and love”. Bo (Yao) and Grace (Li Jun Li) Chow are the Chinese couple who provide catfish and a painted sign for the juke joint’s opening night. Delroy Lindo plays Delta Slim, a drunken musician who brings his band for opening night. Omar Benson Miller plays Cornbread, the bouncer for the juke joint.
Hailee Steinfeld plays against type as Mary, a married woman and love interest for Stack who’s allowed into the club because of the One Drop rule. Jayme Lawson plays Pearline, another married woman and love interest for Sammie. Wunmi Mosaku plays on brand as Annie, Smoke’s love interest who follows a Creole tradition of practicing voodoo. Every character is introduced with care and color as they should be. Not to mention, the actors in this film are all very talented.
The Story & The Music
Each plot point and musical note has been painstakingly taken into account. The lighting of dark-skinned actors is just right thanks to lighting technicians Brian Bertolini, Cole Thomas Barranco, and Gerard Bartley. There are no blank faces with eyes peering from them. Introducing the characters slowly ensures that the audience builds up feelings for each of them. You care about what happens to them as day turns into night and the people in Club Juke are fighting for their lives.
This story also takes us back in time and forward, highlighting different genres of black music. Ludwig Göransson, who composed for the Black Panther movies, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett, blends multiple genres of music into a masterpiece of black excellence in one gripping scene. The musical score is titled “Irish Filídh, Choctaw Chant And West African Griot Suite”. (The man is a genius.) Then Coogler visualizes the music with past and present representations, brought to their barest forms.
Music plays such a large role in Sinners, similar to how integral music is church services. And the voice of the film is Caton’s Sammie. His deep baritone filled with soul is accompanied by a guitar that enhances the effects of his music. Effects that pierce the veil between the living and the dead.
Religious Aspect
As stated before, Coogler has made a film about sinners that doesn’t feel preachy and is being released on a high holy day. While I can’t for certain explain why the film is titled Sinners I can write to the religious aspects of the film. Like the beginning when Sammie’s preacher father warns him: “You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s going to follow you home.” Naturally, Sammie ignores his father. When confronted by said “devil”, Remmick says what people want to hear. The devil is cunning in his deception and can easily gain followers in the weak (or sinners).
There are other representations of black religion in the film, as well. There’s the religion of music where musicians worship their craft. Annie’s voodoo practices and beliefs. Smoke doesn’t believe in anything but money, which brings him a form of power. Stack believes in love and pleasing women. With all of the various beliefs, it’s easy to see how “sinners” can be lead astray and why Sammie, the only God-fearing main character survives. And, no that’s not a spoiler. The movie begins where it ends.
The Brothers Moore
I can’t complete this review without mentioning Jordan. Playing two different people had to be a challenge. Smoke, whose real name is Elijah Moore, is a nervous smoker who truly cares about the people around him. He’s selfless and puts himself in danger to protect others. Stack, whose real name is Elias Moore, is the “younger” of the twins. Stack has one true love and he, too, cares about those around him. But Stack has some selfish ways that get him into trouble.
All in all, Jordan does well as both men. Likewise, Coogler does well to make the characters, themes, and situations authentic. He has also created a movie that can spark conversation in the black community about belief. After all, Sinners is Coogler’s celebration of black culture, past, present, and future wrapped in a horror movie.
You can read more reviews written by Kimberly Grant in the Entertainment Blog.
