Review: The REAL factors as to why Sinners became such a strong horror hit

 

Half of the entertainment factor in Ryan Coogler's Sinners is in its buildup. Just watching Michael B. Jordan as twin ex-Chicago gangsters Smoke and Stack interacting with both each other through movie magic and the various townspeople of Clarksdale, Mississippi is entertaining even before all of the blood insanity kicks off, as they go about putting together their own nightclub. Their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), much to his bible thumping father's chagrin, wants to perform his music at the new spot. All their friends are helping them get set up, how could this possibly go wrong? 

But there's trouble brewing for the young establishment alongside the booze. Purchasing land previously owned by Klansmen? That's one issue. The customers possibly not having the right currency to pay is another thorn in their new club's side- oh, and there's also the Irish family of bloodsucking souls from the damned who are lured in by the spellbinding music and are gien a taste for taking over their town. That's probably the biggest hangup.

As well received as Sinners was overall, I noticed it did get a very slight amount of blowback for how allegedly unweildly it comes off attempting to mash so many genres together- it's part gangster film, part souuthern gothic drama, and of couurse part creature feature. But Coogler did mention during the press buildup that he wanted the story to feel like "a full course meal", which he and the rest of the cinema chefs certainl pulled off. Personally, I didn't feel like it was necessarily trying to do too much, moreso that the filmmakers went ouut of their way to maximize the potential excitemment from their various inspirations.

It's not just Jordan pulling double duty who gets to shine in this feature, the charming supporting cast is half the entertainment factor here. Sammie has a very solid arc throughout the movie- in fact he's the heart of the story, and Caton's performance has a good deal to do with that (the story about him not knowing he was walking into a vampire flick is pretty funny). Without spoiling anything, it leads to a nice payoff. 

He's not the only co-star who elevates the story- Omar Benson Miller's Cornbead is charming, Hailee Steinfeld as Stack's love interest, and Wunmi Mosakku as Smoke's Hoodoo-minded girlfriend all get stand out moments, and Jack O' Connell as the lead vampire has an alluring charisma that doesn't have me surprised at all how he became such a big breakout character. I was humming "Picked Poor Robin Clean" for weeks.

When you brush away all of the static and tedious arguing about what Sinners symbolizes, and how timely and relevant it perhaps is, guess what you're left with? A fun, stylish period piece with girls, gin, guns, the fear of god, the blues, and yes, vampires. Yes, there's a political undercurrent to the story, but come on, it's about a black owned juke joint with jezebels coming from out of the nation. They're in the deep American South in the 30s, it's not hard to see the revelation. (90s kids will get that reference.)

Like 1: that's always been a key part of Coogler's work, and 2- not to mention another director may have taken a far preachier (no pun intended) approach to the material. The messages, due to the time period and some circumstances with the plot, are apt to the setting, and it feels cathartic without coming off like a lecture, so it's a film with a good deal of variety. It can be enjoyed as a pointed historical commentary and as an escapist horror romp, without either aspect necessarily cancelling out the other. 

It's kind of a shame that unique works like this have to be instantly dragged into and analyzed within culture wars and debates, to where said discourse can drown out how stylistically strong and just plain thrilling it is. Not to say one can't do that if they genuinely like engaging with media that deeply, but it's still okay to watch Sinners because it's just a flat out good original horror flick, as opposed to putting together a straight up TED Talk about every single metaphor. There's plenty of them, it's just your choice.

So is Sinners worth a watch? Easily, even if you don't like scary movies, the tribute to classic American music will likely spark your interest. I like that there's some ambition here and that it isn't content to be a mindless bloodfest, and it mostly succeeds in delivering the kind of variety it aims for.