Review: Ryan Coogler’s Southern vampire epic ‘Sinners’ sinks its teeth in and doesn’t let go
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan deliver a genre-defying Southern epic packed with blood, soul, and spectacle
There are movies you remember because they were good. Then there are movies you remember because they changed you.
“Sinners” falls squarely in the second category, the kind of film where you remember exactly which theater you were in, what candy you had in your lap, and who you immediately texted as the credits rolled.
Director Ryan Coogler has always moved with purpose, but here, he’s moving differently. “Sinners” is a fully-formed, unfiltered vision – raw, original, and electrifyingly alive. It’s the rated-R spectacle we’ve been starved for: bloody, sexy, soulful, terrifying, and hilarious, all in one breathless swing.
The trailers have made this clear: “Sinners” is a vampire movie. But you wouldn’t know it for a good hour – and that’s part of the brilliance. Coogler takes his time laying track, slowly and seductively pulling you into his 1932 Mississippi. It’s here we meet twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both played with magnetic swagger by Michael B. Jordan, in one of the most impressive double performances in years.
The twins have outrun their past, leaving behind their sharecropper roots for the underworld of Chicago crime, and now they’re back in Clarksdale, ready to open a juke joint and reclaim some kind of peace. Maybe even a little power, too. But in the Jim Crow South, peace is a fantasy, and power often comes with a body count.
The first hour plays like a Southern-fried hangout film – part gangster tale, part communal blues jam – as we settle in with the people of Clarksdale. There's Hailee Steinfeld’s Mary, all smoky glances and steel backbone, Delroy Lindo’s Delta Slim, a walking jukebox of pain and wisdom, and Wunmi Mosaku and Jayme Lawson bringing fire and heart to Annie and Pearline. And then there’s the breakout: newcomer Miles Caton as Sammie Moore, the preacher’s son with music in his soul and wonder in his eyes.
Michael B. Jordan delivers not one but two standout performances, giving each brother distinct rhythms – Smoke with a smoother, softer and pragmatic business mindset, while Stack is the more impulsive, jagged livewire ready to catch fire. But Caton is the revelation. In his first-ever role, he’s toe-to-toe with the likes of Jordan and Lindo, carrying scenes with grace, vulnerability, and magnetic screen presence. His musical performance at the juke joint is a showstopper, but it’s the quiet scenes – watching a young man come into his own – where he truly shines, portraying innocence without ever feeling naïve..
Then, about an hour in, the joint opens – and so does the film. Literally. The screen widens, the aspect ratio expands, and “Sinners” morphs before your eyes. Coogler throws open the doors to the supernatural in a particularly transcendent musical sequence, and all hell follows.
The vampire reveal is perfectly paced – first a suspicion, then a lingering anxiety, and at last, full-blown brutality. These creatures don’t just bite, they devour. The design is haunting in its restraint – subtle shifts in behavior and physicality that ratchet tension to a scream. When Coogler finally unleashes the full horror in the third act, it’s a glorious, grotesque spectacle.
What separates “Sinners” from other genre blends is how confidently it straddles tones. It’s laugh-out-loud funny one minute, then wrenchingly emotional the next, then utterly terrifying after that. And somehow, it never feels disjointed. That tonal tightrope is thanks in large part to the score by Oscar-winner Ludwig Göransson, who goes full mad scientist here – blues, psych rock, jazz, gospel, and orchestral melodies all swirl into something that feels like it should never work – and yet it’s the perfect accompaniment to Coogler’s evil genius. A longtime collaborator of Coogler’s, it’s safe to say no one in the film score space is currently moving like Göransson, as he constantly reinvents the rules of how a movie can sound.
“Sinners” is a film built for IMAX, and Coogler knows it. The director spent 10 minutes with Kodak last week in a viral video breaking down aspect ratios and the various formats in which you can see the film – and now it makes total sense. This movie plays with aspect ratio like a weapon, stretching and squeezing the frame to enhance claustrophobia, adrenaline, or awe. It’s a technical masterclass, but never at the expense of story or soul.
“Sinners” is a dream of a movie, until the nightmare kicks in. But even then, even when the walls start closing in and the blood starts flowing, it’s a ride you want to take. Because Coogler never forgets the thrill, the heart, or the reason we go to the movies in the first place.
It’s cinema with teeth. And we’ve been hungry.
Star Rating: 5 out of 5
“Sinners” is now playing in theaters.