Reviews

Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler have previously brought us Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther, and they’re now venturing into new territory with the supernatural horror Sinners.

Set in 1930s Mississippi, Sinners stars Jordan as the twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown of Clarksdale after years in Chicago, buy a disused sawmill and turn it into a juke joint.

They put together a team to entertain guests – their guitar-playing cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) and alcoholic musician Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) – and ask friends to help them run the place, from Smoke’s partner Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) to doorman Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) and barmaid Grace (Li Jun Li).

The grand opening night looks poised to be a resounding success until the undead – led by Remmick (Jack O’Connell) – show up and demand to be let in.

Calling Sinners a supernatural horror doesn’t feel wholly accurate because there’s so much more going on here. Coogler ambitiously tries to pack in multiple genres (gangster, action and musical films spring to mind) and use the vampire setup to explore complex themes such as racial oppression.

The highlight of the film is the music, which is the beating heart and the driving force of the story. The blues songs and score, crafted by famed composer Ludwig Göransson, are toe-tappingly brilliant and Caton and Jayme Lawson perform beautifully inside the juke joint.

There are some other folk-inspired musical moments outside the venue that feel random in the grand scheme of the film but they’re still very entertaining to watch.

There are other aspects that don’t quite work with Sinners. It feels a bit too long at 2 hours and 17 minutes and it takes a while to get going because there are so many characters and relationships to introduce. Also, Coogler doesn’t know how to end his film and winds up giving us three different endings – before the credits, in the middle and after.

But the most problematic issue is the marketing and how much it gave away beforehand. There are certain moments – such a reveal about Stack’s love interest Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) – that would have been far more impactful and exciting if they had been kept secret.

If you go into Sinners expecting a straightforward horror movie you’re going to be surprised because this is much more substantial than that. While the various ideas and themes don’t always fuse together seamlessly, you have to respect Coogler’s ambition.

In cinemas from Friday 18th April

By Hannah Wales

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