Sinners Review (Spoilers!)

A preface: When it comes to Hollywood and cinematic discourse, it almost seems like people aren't sure what they want. There's a raucous clamoring for original films disassociated from the endless menagerie of sequels, reboots, remakes, and adaptations that seemingly dominate the market nowadays. I've discussed this at length before in my Blog, and it frankly seems disingenuous of me to criticize the contemporary state of the movie industry with as vicarious a voice as other contemporary critics seem to inflict with unmitigated gusto. I'm not exactly a purveyor of niche, genuinely original movies, of which there is no shortage of and find constant attention within certain circles and release every year and will continue to be released until the end of time. Original cinema isn't 'dead', I personally believe that's a major misconception with this overarching argument. Rather, I would argue that for someone like me, who visits the theaters very rarely because of inflated ticket prices combined with scheduling conflicts and the general hassle of physically going someplace to watch your movie instead of indulging in at-home streaming, the woe generates from original movies lacking any widespread spotlight.

It's a given that every Marvel or DC release will enjoy a vast bounty of marketing beforehand, you'll see advertisements for it on Youtube, your social medias, your television screens, billboards, bus stops, benches, every conceivable part of your city/neighborhood/rock in the desert will have someplace with a poster, nowadays sometimes accompanied with a barcode to grasp your attention even more. It's marketing, that's the key. Original movie productions cannot hope to combat against the consistent marketing of franchise movies that produce multiple works per year. One and done films can only generate a selective amount of hype before their cycle dies off, unless their universe is expanded with a prequel, sequel, or what have you.

While I'm unsure of the marketing future for Sinners though, I can say one thing. This is a major, well-marketed, widespread appealed movie that is worth the colossal investment that was placed into cultivating its hype cycle. Director Ryan Coogler delivers a rolling epic, a tale of bloodshed, horror, tragic history, and musical epiphanies espoused over the course of a single night. Taking place during the 1930s at the height of Prohibition, during an age where the colored faced discrimination for the crime of simply existing, two brothers enmeshed into the criminal underworld return to their Mississippi hometown after a troubled stint of smuggling and assassinations in Chicago working for the Irish and Italian mafias respectively, the two brothers reconnect with their cousin Sammy, a Blues legend in the making, and utilize his singing voice and guitar-bound prowess to launch their own juke joint- only to find that their merriment attracts visitors far more dangerous than any racist or crimelord could ever hope to be.

There's so much to regale about this movie that this review won't cover, that a thousand other reviews probably will in some various capacity, but these are merely my disjointed thoughts, so do bear with me. Suffice to say, I enjoyed this movie thoroughly from start to finish. The Mississippi Delta is home to a menagerie of characters you become familiarized with over the First Act, each with their own distinctive motivations and archetypes to make them sympathetic and relatable to the audience. Old school Delta legend Slim, the alcoholic yet ultimately good-hearted purveyor of Black musical excellence that attracts ears from across the town, Mary; Stack's former flame and a socialite who falls prey to an unrelenting curse, Bo Chow, a Chinese shopkeeper and wife of a close friend to the Smokestack brothers, and beyond. To summarize this cast in detail would be an entire post in itself, and not really the goal of this one. But above all, the character that captivated my imagination the most and whose presence I recall the clearest would be Remmick.

The film's main antagonist, an ancient Vampire whose very introduction unleashes a flurry of questions about his origins and trials and tribulations since those origins, he barrels into the Mississippi Delta's hostile and discriminatory outlook, unwilling to allow the preordained racial constructs to exist and instead imposing his own seemingly egalitarian and unitarian, yet ultimately still exploitative and controlling order over the black minority population. As we learn at the movie's climax, Remmick is an Irish immigrant to the United States, hailing from around the fifth century from before the Christian conquest and subsequent conversion of the natives into their faith and hierarchical power-structure. That's what makes him an incredibly compelling villain. This movie is equal parts about vampiric corruption as it is about the genuinely real struggles the oppressed have not only against their oppressors, but against each other in the environment their oppressors create. Remmick isn't a bigoted racist believing blacks are inferior. If anything, he despises that power-structure, even mentioning his plans to eliminate the KKK leader responsible for selling the juke joint to the Smokestack twins solely so his gang can easily round up and kill them and everyone attending later. Remmick believes his cause is just and true, and that whilst those he converts are unable to face the sun ever again and face the typical vampiric weaknesses, (aversions to garlic, unable to enter buildings without express permissions of invitation, etcetera), the payoff is a loving community of friendship and kindness, where everyone's memories, motivations, and beliefs are shared in one unitary consensus.

Well, and there's another caveat. The primary reason Remmick sinks his teeth (pun intended) into Delta is because of Sammie. More specifically, the power of Sammie's music. In the film's most beautiful and jawdropping sequence, Sammie's Blues music conjures the spirits of African musical artists from the past, present, and future. It is so palpable and beautiful a scene it makes one feel as though they're really there, losing themselves in the atmosphere of dance and vibes and musical brilliance, their senses overloading with a righteousness and purity they haven't known since. While a visual allegory for the history of African musical and cultural development over the ages, this scene is very much real and rooted in the film's mythology. Sammie's music is so powerful it can ripple across spacetime, and Remmick would very much like to acquire this capability by converting Sammie into his minion so he might instead play Old Irish music, intent on summoning the spirits of his Gaelic ancestors. Remmick isn't really evil or malicious, his overarching goal is spending time with the community forcibly ripped away from him. Yet in doing so, he becomes what he despises. A colonizer, forcing his way of life onto a persecuted minority that never asked for his gifts of 'enlightenment'. Christianity also ties heavily into the film's narrative and themes, as Sammie's own indulgence in the Blues is a rebellion against his pastor-father who seeks for him to become mired instead in the scriptures of the Church, and use his music to liven up the house of worship instead. At the very end of the movie, we learn a bit more about how Remmick became a monster to begin with, a British vampire converted him whilst reciting the Lord's Prayer. That revelation alone is worthy of curious analysis.

All in all, there's so many aspects of this movie that can't merely be written off in a few paragraphs and deserve individual posts of their own. The amount of history, culture, art, and musical knowledge that Coogler weaves into his story makes it reminiscent of almost a Shakespearian tale, a grandiose retelling of unlikely heroes matched together to face against a menace and learning more about themselves and the world at large in the process. The movie feels illuminating. It feels encouraging, empowering, and heartfelt, especially with the post-credits scene where Sammie encounters Stack one final time. If you have the time and the money, please, go yourself or bring some friends and family and watch this movie. It will have you ruminating on its themes and talking about them with fellow viewers for weeks, months, and I truly believe years afterward. Sinners earns a solid 10/10 from me.

P.S - I wish to begin reviving this Blog and working on it more often, providing content that everyone can read and enjoy, so if you have any recommendations for things I should take a look at, are an aspiring director seeking to get your film overviewed, or merely just want to say hello, my comments are always open- just remember to be polite and considerate, don't be an uninvited guest like Remmick and his converts... with that out of the way, I really hope to be updating this blog more often! God Bless You All, stay tuned for more, and I'll see you on the next one!