"Sinners" as a Summer Blockbuster Sizzles
An entertaining film at the 2+ hours mark that doesn't make you want to reach for your phone and second screen your viewing experience [in boredom].
Caveat: Technically, Sinners (2025) isn’t a summer theatrical release because it hit theaters in the Spring, but since it began streaming on July 4th, I’m counting it as one. The streaming release makes it more widely accessible, and frankly, the rest of this summer’s theatrical offerings are duds. Apologies in advance to Jurassic Park lovers and fans of The Fantastic Four: Baby Steps*, but this is no Barbenheimer year.
* Was having a little poke fun at the name. The real title is The Fantastic Four: The First Steps. I like my title better. Also because, it could be combined with Boss Baby and play for intentional laughs.
Premise: Smoke and Stack, twin brothers (played by talented actor Michael B. Jordan - MBJ for short) whose previous employment may have included working for gangster Al Capone in Chicago, return home to Mississippi in 1932, during the Jim Crow era, with a wad of cash and dreams of setting up a juke joint. They buy what they think is an old mill from a Klansman and with that start to realize their dreams, alongside their friends and family. The entire film (~2:20) spans the timeline of one day and one very eventful night.
Side Note: When one actor plays multiple roles, like MBJ, and carries it off with aplomb, they should automatically be nominated for a category of awards like, “1) You aren’t AI [full stop] and 2) You memorized two characters’ worth of lines, facial expressions, body movements, love interests, etc.” Hand him the damn award.
“You twins? No, we cousins.” - Sinners
The Good Stuff
Coogler-Jordan Kismet: Director Ryan Coogler, whose film credits include the Black Panther films and Rocky universe films, Creed, is back with his long-time collaborator and muse, from Fruitvale Station days, Michael B. Jordan. I imagine similar to Scorsese and DiCaprio, this director-actor duo has developed a shorthand for how to work together after this many films and it shows. There is a fierce and confident energy reverberating in Jordan’s performances here.
Formidable Females & The Men Who Support Them, but Also Carry Their Weight: The ensemble cast is exemplary. While Hailee Steinfeld is a talent in her own right, I wasn’t bowled over by her in the role as the socialite Mary, a childhood friend of Smoke and Stack, Stack’s lover, and a mixed-race woman passing as white. I was very much taken by the performance of Annie, Smoke’s lover, played by Wunmi Mosaku, a strong healer and intuitive soul, and their love felt undeniable and well-earned. Smoke and Stack’s younger cousin, the musically gifted Sammie, played by Miles Caton, an R&B singer who voice is simultaneously haunting and lifting, starts the film quiet and unsure, and ends the film, knowing and confident. His arc is perhaps the most precious, because like Smoke and Stack, his future wasn’t secured or a given. Grace (Li Jun Li, Babylon) is another strong female lead who really shows her range as a store owner, expert negotiator, and business associate of Smoke and Stack, helping them set up shop.
The Cinematography: Every shot in this film is a work of art. It’s beautifully choreographed, and I’m not even talking about the juke joint dance numbers, though the song and dance elements are outstanding. There’s one scene that keeps on replaying itself in my mind and it’s an understated one, near the beginning of the film, when we first meet Grace, not a main character, and the camera has us following her from behind, walking from her store to meet Stack. It allows us to see the world through her eyes, a female gaze, for a suspended moment in time and it’s poetry. The very fact that her perspective is given that much attention in a very action-heavy and plot-packed film is saying something of note about the value of every person Coogler (and co) assembles here.
The Story, Mostly: Yes, on surface, it’s a vampire, horror film but it’s also telling a deeper story, a parable, if you will. The supernatural trappings are a device to tell a story about exploitation, bigotry, and redemption. At its core, this is a film about two brothers trying to make their way in the world, putting in the work to get there, and what should have been a triumphant homecoming with family, friends, and lovers. The incorporation of cultural lore, rich historical and social circumstances of the time period, and well, how to manifest a destiny of choice, is really what elevates the story. Though, I’m pretty sure “Rosenthal’s Ice” shop didn’t exist in Mississippi in 1932 given the small number of Jews living in the Mississippi Delta at the time. [Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities]
The Naysayers: “I Don’t Do HORROR! Can I still watch this film?”
I see you. The beauty of streaming is that we can choose to fast forward some of the truly horror-ific aspects. I didn’t have to do it here. If vampire gory bits and bloodlust grosses you out, then by all means, do it. You’re not missing out on too much there. The parts of horror and terror that often have me reaching for the remote are the supense-laden psychological bits, like what you see in Heretic. YOU DO YOU!
You Don't Want to Hang with The "Heretic"
Spoilers ahead. But this is a horror film whose trailer basically gives away the plot, anyway.
Pop Goes the Culture
An area of heightened interest for me in this film was the decision to make the bad guy-vampire, Remmick (Jack O’Connell), an Irish vampire who sings Irish folk songs and lulls people to vampire-hood by promising a community/family of oppressed peoples. I liked the music, but the whole thing didn’t quite add up. Even if the intent was to highlight a shared history of English colonialism, it ends up feeling diluted by trying to universalize the experience. Experience isn’t the same. All said, while we wouldn’t have had much of a story or film, I was rooting for the band of Mississippi Chocktaw vampire hunters in the film, who warned the Klan couple hiding Remmick, in the beginning. If they had heeded the warning, well, yeah, it wouldn’t have been much of a story, but I wanted to see more of a developed Chocktaw presence in this film and maybe have them show up at the juke joint in a Hail Mary moment to support the humans in their soul-saving battle v. vampires.
Let’s Discuss: What did you think of this film?
Is there a place for AI in character representation in film/tv?
I don’t have too many fully formed thoughts on this topic, but I found myself thinking about the vampires and whether AI was used or could have been used for some of the zoomed-out shots in the film. I've been thinking more about AI in film/TV since watching the historical representation of Richard Nixon in the show Duster.
I actually liked how they handled it there, because personally, I find it distracting when an actor portrays a real-life historical figure in a cameo and looks or acts just different enough to be noticeable and in a not-great way. I felt this with the portrayal of Howard Hughes in the show; I kept wondering if it was Jim Carrey, but it clearly wasn’t.
I’m not trying to open a can of worms or invite hate mail about endorsing AI taking human jobs. I’m just saying that in this instance, JJ Abrams and co. figured out how to make it work. (See this post for the clip.)👇
June's 📺 Watchlist | 📢 HEAR ME OUT: All-Consuming Crime Capers, Rich People Problems & Regency Core
I loved Sinners! My son saw it before me and warned me that the beginning might be a little slow, but that I should hang in there. It was brilliant. I was wondering how they would bring in the vampire bits, and the way they did it, was so good. The music and dance, too, was out of this world, one of my favourite parts of the film.
The Fantastic Four: Baby Steps is a much better title imo.