Sinners is Ryan Coogler’s first original film since his debut with Fruitvale Station. Since then he’s made franchise films Creed, Black Panther, and Black Panther 2. In my opinion, he hasn’t made a single movie that’s not great. But with Sinners, I think every aspect of his filmmaking levels up. My quick opinion on the movie: easily the best movie I’ve seen this year and potentially in years. This was the most complete cinematic experience that I can remember and you gotta go see this in IMAX ASAP. If you want more thoughts though (no spoilers, don’t worry!), read on.
Point 1: Ludwig Goransson is the Definition of Range
If the name Ludwig Goransson doesn’t ring a bell for you, well trust me, you have heard his work. He has produced all of Childish Gambino’s music as well as many songs for A-list singers, he has done the score for all of Coogler’s films, winning a Grammy for Black Panther in the process, and most recently won the Oscar for best score for Oppenheimer.
Now you may be wondering why I’m mentioning him as my first point in a review for what I called one of the best cinematic experiences in recent memory. Well, music is a deeply entrenched intrinsic element of the story of this movie. It is a main aspect of the plot and it seeps into every aspect in one way or another. And for the movie to really hit, the music has to hit as well. And it not only hits, it smashes it out of the fucking park.
Not only that, if you go through Goransson’s discography, you start noticing how much this guy can really do. Earlier in his career, he was more into producing electronic drum beats for rap. But I already thought he had levelled up significantly with the Black Panther movies where he integrated traditional African music into a score. This however I could not have seen coming from him. The soulful blues music of Sinners will seep into your bones and you will find yourself being transported. The music is that important to the experience and I cannot speak highly enough of the brilliance with which Goransson was able to bring all of it to life.
The film opens talking about music “so pure it can pierce the veil between life and death, past and future” and boy does Goransson live up to laying that down in the film. You’ll need to hear it to believe it.
I would be remiss however if I did not also mention debutant Miles Caton. Not only does he do a fantastic job as what turns out to be the protagonist role of the film, but his singing is magical, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is just the start of a brilliant career for him.
Point 2: Absolute Cinema
Whatever cinema means to you, this movie has got. Do you love your movies to be dramatic and emotional? Check. Do you love high concept fantastic elements in movies? Check. Do you love horror movies with a creepy atmosphere? Check. Do you love big action with fighting and gunfire? Check. Do you like your movies to be sexy and exuding charisma? Check. I don’t know the last time I’ve seen a film masterfully hit every type of thing I love in a movie so effortlessly. There’s really something for everyone here. If you love movies in general, you are going to love this, no doubt.
The cinematography is immaculate and the great aspects of filming on film are fully on display. The colours really pop and one of the best outcomes from filming on film is how the lighting at night just works so well. Whether it be the moonlight or by fire, never was I squinting to figure out what I was looking at.
There is a oner in the middle of this film that is almost a transcendental experience and I cannot wait to hear everyone talking about it. No spoilers so I’ll leave it at that.
The IMAX format is also used to great extent to really expand the aspect ratio. The best moment for me is at the crescendo of the film as it’s about to enter the climax – the aspect ratio smoothly expands to give way to a badass shot of the characters about to go into battle. This was also preceded by the best line in the film for me, but I’ll let you discover it yourselves.
Point 3: No Performance Left Behind
Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld did great in their headlining roles. Jordan particularly nailed the nuance between his two roles to the point where I was never once confused who was Smoke and who was Stack. There’s a lot of emotional depth in that performance, and I’m willing to say it’s potentially his best performance to date.
However, to me, it was everyone else that really made this film go from great to instant classic. I spoke already about Miles Caton killing it in his first ever film role. Wunmi Mosaku is the performance that anchors this film. Delroy Lindo is brilliant as always. Li Jun Li really shines in the second half of the film as well.
But this section is to praise my boy Jack O’Connell. I became a huge fan of his from the TV show Godless (most underrated and underwatched show out there if you haven’t seen it). He’s consistently appeared in films throughout the years, but never quite landed THAT role to push him to the stardom he so deserves.
Here, he has limited screen time as the main antagonist, but he is a force anytime he is on screen. Whether he is being charmingly evil or unnervingly musical, he is the tide that raises the boats of the other performances and brings the movie to its story peak. We know that stories are often only as great as their villains, and O’Connell eats up his role as Remmick in Sinners.
Point 4: There’s a Time and a Place
The film takes place in the Jim Crow era Mississippi. Coogler has never shied away from racial themes in his movies, but there’s no more heightened setting than this to really explore that. You can feel the care that Coogler has taken to ensure that nothing ever takes you out of the setting. You start the movie with Caton’s Sammie picking cotton to fill his quota, then move to a town where one side of the street is for black people and the other side is for white people.
All of that is punctuated with a great attention to detail with Coogler also including characters of Chinese descent, an oft-forgotten piece of history from back then. The choice of the time period is also very interesting in that we have cars and guns, so it’s not too far back but also brings into sharp focus the things that ARE different.
If the dynamics of being black in that time and place in America wasn’t heavy enough, it also introduces the KKK as an undercurrent to exchanges with white people. Finally, to top it all off, we sprinkle some vampires in there. And even that is handled in such an interesting way as it weaves in with the racial dynamics of the setting and accentuates the issues of both vampirism and the race relations as they intertwine.
The sounds and sights are painfully beautiful as the film dares you to appreciate a time that is marred by the implications of what was happening. But it never dwells on any element to try to incite guilt. The characters in this film may be victims of their circumstances, but they are seizing their lives for what they want.
As with every element before, Coogler doesn’t miss anything by even an inch.
Sinners is a modern-day masterpiece and an instant classic. It is Coogler’s best work and potentially the best work of everyone involved as well. Everything is firing on all cylinders and you have to go watch this as soon as you can. I could not recommend it more. It may only be April, but I’d be surprised if Sinners isn’t a big winner in many categories at the Oscars.
In case you’ve already watched this and want to consider what else to watch this month, check out my Under The Radar Picks of April.
