Recently, my boyfriend surprised me on our date by purchasing tickets for Sinners in IMAX. I went into the movie for two Michael B. Jordans and stayed for the music and plot. For the rest of the night, my boyfriend and I could only talk about Sinners and how blown away we were.
If you’ve been living off the grid and have no clue what Sinners is about, then let me explain. Ryan Coogler, known for directing Creed and Black Panther, is the director of the vampire horror movie Sinners.
Jordan also starred in both Creed and Black Panther. In Sinners, Jordan plays twins: Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore, also known as the “Smokestack” twins.
The movie follows the twins and their little cousin, Sammie, played by Miles Caton, as they try to open a juke joint to make some money and enjoy some good blues. That is, until some vampires come along and ruin the night.
My review of Sinners will have a no-spoilers and a spoilers section.
No-Spoiler Review
If you can go out and see this movie in ScreenX format, where the film is projected in front of you across your left and right, I’d highly recommend it. However, the entire movie isn’t like this, as it subtly shifts between a standard screen size and the wide 270-degree screen. As the screen expanded, I felt transported and immersed in the world and its characters.
Speaking about the characters, the casting for this movie was amazing. Jordan deserves all of the praise he’s getting for playing two characters who are so distinct that, at any given moment, you can easily point out which brother Jordan is playing. The opening shot of the twins, with Stack passing his brother Smoke a cigarette, was directed and acted so well that I forgot there weren’t two Jordans filming the scene.
Sinners was Caton’s movie debut, and he did not disappoint. In an interview with The Hook, Caton said he started learning to play the guitar two months before filming began for the movie.
I didn’t question for a moment whether this was his first movie or if he was new to learning guitar, because he was a natural at it. I will be on the lookout for any future projects he’s in, whether he’s starring in a movie or singing on an album.
The rest of the supporting cast brought the movie to life. I love stories with fleshed-out and developed side characters, not just people to fill in the background and move the story forward. I enjoy how these characters have their individualized story arc, where their decisions have an impact on the main plot.
All of the characters in Sinners felt real. They felt like real people with real lives, and real love and loss.
I’m a sucker for a vampire movie. Yes, I had a vampire phase growing up, so I know not all vampires are built the same. I appreciated the variations and twists Coogler added to these vampires to make them stand out. These vampires are alluring with their glimmering eyes, but by the time you see their grotesque rows of fangs, it’s too late.
I can’t talk about this movie without talking about the music. I’ve never listened to the blues much, but I will now. I have already added the movie’s soundtrack to my playlist. One of, if not the best, songs in the film is “I Lied to You” sung by Caton.
I recommend waiting to listen to the song until you watch the movie. I was not in my seat when this song started — I was transported to another place and time. The lyrics are beautiful, but the instrumentals and melodic humming are what carried me out of my seat into another plane of existence.
At the end of the movie, be sure to stick around for the mid- and post-credit scenes!
Spoiler Review
I loved Mary’s character so much and how well they wrote her. They could have painted her in many ways, but they chose to make her a woman in love with a man she couldn’t be with due to the era they lived in.
One of the reasons I’m glad she and Stack survived, as you see in the post-credit scene, is because they got to live in a time when biracial relationships were accepted.
I also noted how they didn’t use Hailee Steinfeld to sing during the main movie at all, which I appreciated. Given the period, it would’ve felt out of place having Mary go up and sing at the Juke.
I know any other director may have tried to profit from Steinfeld’s voice and recognition. However, I appreciate Coogler for recognizing her strengths as an actress without letting that overshadow the story.
Additionally, I know a lot of people have been talking on social media about Mary being one-eighth black, which seemed like an insignificant detail to me as I watched the film. However, as I thought about it more, I realized how Mary represented many other biracial people who were ostracized during this time in history.
She was too black to be white, and too white to be black. I love how the movie showcased a multitude of social injustices in subtle ways, just enough to hint at them, but not enough to distract from the main plot of the movie.
While watching the movie, when the vampires came inviting the people in the barn to join their family, I leaned over and told my boyfriend, “At least the vampires aren’t racists.”
At a certain point, even I was wondering why the characters were so opposed to being vampires; they all seemed happy with their little Irish jig and singing, which was one of my favorite parts of the movie. However, now I understand not everyone wants to become a blood-thirsty creature who can’t go out in the sun.
Annie’s death crushed me. I knew when Annie, played by Wunmi Mosaku, asked Smoke to kill her if she was ever bitten, that she was going to die. I wasn’t expecting the Rambo-style ending with Smoke plowing down the KKK guys, which was deserved as they were the true villains in this story.
As sad as I was to see Smoke die, I knew he was finally free and at peace to be with his wife and baby.
The title Sinners has as many layers to it as the movie itself does. Sinner has a negative connotation to it due to religion, but according to Romans 3:23-24 in the NLT Bible, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
Whether you’re religious or not, this verse simply means we are all sinners, we are all human, and we all make mistakes and do wrong.
Vampires are a sin against nature. Sammie’s dad believed the blues were a sin. Being black or any other minority in America was seen as a sin and a disgrace. The truth is that racism is a sin. With that being said, not everyone may agree on what is considered a sin, and that’s the point.
The title is meant to encompass all the different types of “sins” that occurred during this time in history and may still occur today. Sinners is intended to have the negative connotation it comes branded with, but also be welcoming for everyone to watch, learn, and enjoy because we’re all sinners to some degree.
Final thoughts
I had such a great time watching this movie and immersing myself in its world and characters. I didn’t want it to end. I was recently told that I’m too generous with giving out five-star reviews, but this movie deserves it. Sinners is now in my top five movies of all time. If you’re looking for a movie to watch with a little bit of everything – horror, action, romance, historical, supernatural, and vampire –then you will love this movie too.