Gideon Dunbar
Every so often, there comes along a movie, or a book, or some other piece of media that terrifies me. Not necessarily because it’s scary, but because the quality of the writing is so unbelievably good that it makes me worry that nothing will ever be able to equal or surpass it. “Sinners” is one of those creations.
“Sinners” follows a number of separate plots, but the main two center around twin brothers, Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan, playing both roles expertly), and their return to their hometown of Mississippi. There, they encounter Sammie (Miles Caton), their younger cousin, an aspiring blues musician. They intend to open up a juke joint for the people of the area, the sharecroppers crushed under the heel of Jim Crow laws and American systematic oppression. And everything’s going pretty well, until the vampires show up.
To start, the acting in this movie is simply superb. Michael B. Jordan is the standout, of course, and he plays two separate characters, each with distinct personalities, brilliantly. Stack’s laid-back nature contrasts brilliantly with Smoke’s quiet, calculating mind. On top of that, Caton is brilliant as Sammie, conveying his initial desperation to escape his father’s influence and his later desperation to escape the vampires with true, outstanding emotion. And that’s not to mention the rest of the cast, and of course, the vampires themselves. Jack O’ Connell plays the main antagonist, Remmick, and he is terrifying. Appearance, voice, personality: all terrifying.
I haven’t even mentioned the sets yet. They’re brilliant. Well and truly brilliant. The production design in this movie is gorgeous, and the lighting is amazing. The use of shadows, pyrotechnics, candlelight – this entire movie is a constant dance of light and dark and it is amazing to see. And the sound. The sound deserves its own paragraph.
“Sinners” is a good movie, but it’s turned into a great one by the sound design. Music is an integral part of the story, and you will feel that every time it’s played. Electric guitars, acoustic, brilliant vocals, blues music, Irish folk songs, this movie has everything. And it is one of the few movies that actually makes conversations easier to hear during loud scenes, by carefully adjusting the sound so that the party still exists, but you can actually hear the characters speaking clearly. Sound is also used to communicate memory, with stories having sound effects played alongside them to create an image of the past. The sound in this movie is breathtaking, pure and simple.
Unfortunately, nothing’s perfect, and my one gripe with this movie is this. At the start, some Native American vampire hunters are introduced. They go, warn some victims that there’s a vampire around, and that’s it. They never show up again. They have exactly one scene. I understand why they don’t show up. It would take away from the main characters fighting vampires, but if that’s the point, why include the scene at all? It’s just odd.
Overall, “Sinners” is a work of brilliance. It’s art, but it’s much more than that. It’s art with purpose, art with power. If you want to see a movie that’s a step in the right direction for movies as a whole, watch “Sinners.” I give it a solid 9/10.