Joseph Moser
If August Wilson had written a vampire movie, it might be a lot like “Sinners,” the phenomenal new film by Ryan Coogler. It’s a cinematic event in the best possible sense, and it needs to be experienced in the theater to be fully appreciated. “Sinners” has some commercial elements — vampires, first and foremost — but it nonetheless manages to be bold and original at almost every turn. It deserves a slew of Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director. Although horror is my least favorite genre, I was mesmerized by this film and look forward to repeat viewings.
“Sinners” — playing the Savoy theater in Montpelier through May 22 — is about reunions, music, trauma, and loss. In the fall of 1932, twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both played by Michael B. Jordan, return from a years-long venture in Chicago to start a juke joint in their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Over 24 intense hours, they enlist a young blues prodigy, lean on old friends, rekindle old flames, and incur the wrath of a racist landowner as they prepare for their club’s opening night and host the party to end all parties. Oh, and the twins and company battle vampires who sometimes act a lot like zombies and at other times break into song. The film is a wild ride indeed. It may have more great acting, songs, and social and historical commentary than it can reasonably juggle in two hours and fifteen minutes.
Writer-director Coogler makes almost all these elements work brilliantly. However, many of the characters have rich backstories that might have been better developed without the intrusion of the vampires. Maybe someday, though, Coogler will address that issue with a director’s cut of the film. For example, both the pagan healer Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) and elder bluesman Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) are so compelling that they could be protagonists rather than secondary figures. There are also several minor Choctaw characters that could have been granted much more screen time. Overall, while the horror elements don’t always serve the characterizations well, the vampire story arc aligns with the themes of the movie in a way that is ultimately intellectually and emotionally satisfying.
Furthermore, “Sinners” should delight music fans, especially blues and folk connoisseurs. It features rousing performances from several cast members, including standouts Miles Caton (in his first film) as the fledgling Delta bluesman Sammie and Jayme Lawson as the sultry Pearline. One breathtaking musical sequence dramatizes both the history and legacy of the blues in audacious, surreal fashion. You need to see and hear it (in a theater) to believe it. In addition, the movie has a propulsive Dobro-infused score by Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson.
The film also powerfully dramatizes the age-old paradox of the blues: a genre inspired by gospel traditions has been stigmatized by the church as “the devil’s music.” Sammie is the son of a preacher, and both his father, Jed, and new friend Smoke plead with him to give up this music before he devotes his life to it. Smoke tells the young man something that seems like folk wisdom: “I’ve known lots of musicians, but I’ve never known a happy one.” The final parts of the film rigorously interrogate that claim, leaving it up to viewers to evaluate Sammie’s decisions.
Aside from the incredible music, the film benefits from moody cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw and first-rate production and costume design that evoke the Depression era. All these elements contribute to the magnificent night sequences of the film, which are visually stunning as well as viscerally thrilling. A word of advice: do not leave this movie until after all the end credits have rolled. The coda is nervy and mind-boggling, but Coogler and his team somehow make it wistful, funny, and affecting.
With some directors, we can get a clear sense of their style and predominant themes after two or three films, and that can be a marvelous introduction. On the other hand, since Coogler has made movies as varied as “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed,” “Black Panther,” and “Sinners,” I feel like we’re still getting to know him as a filmmaker. Yet I’m thrilled to find out where this young auteur, who turns only 39 this month, will take us next. “Sinners” may just mark the end of the beginning of an astounding, iconic career.
“Sinners” plays at the Savoy through May 22.
