ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
It might only be April, but director Ryan Coogler is wanting moviegoers to have some spookiness on the brain with his newest film, “Sinners.” The film takes place in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta and stars Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as twin brothers who return to their hometown to start a juke joint with some friends and family, only to be confronted by a supernatural evil as opening night wears on.
The first aspect of the movie that deserves a shoutout is the music, because I thought everyone on that team did an absolutely phenomenal job. Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson was in charge of the film's score, and nearly every note blew me away. I could definitely hear all the different musical influences (which include blues and music from the 1930s and 1940s, among others), and the end result is amazing. There was definitely care and effort put forth making everything sound as good as it does, which was good given the overall importance of music to the movie’s story, and that care and effort are heard with every note. The music especially in the more suspenseful scenes later in the film is done really well and really helps set the mood and increase the overall creepiness factor.
Keeping with the music aspect, the other songs in the movie are performed really well, and there wasn’t a single one I didn’t like. My only minor complaint about this aspect is I felt like there could have been more explanation or focus on why exactly blues music was supposed to be so evil and corrupting. Lead character Sammie (played by Miles Caton) hears a couple short lectures from his pastor father about how blues music is so devilish, and there’s even a voiceover line at one point in the movie about how music has the power to reach the living and the dead, but I just felt like there could have been more explored with that part of the story. Overall, however, the music crew deserves some love come next awards season because they all did an amazing job.
Ryan Coogler also deserves some praise for his directorial efforts. He’s a very creative director and certainly wanted to put his own spin on the horror genre, and I love the fact that it’s an original story. However, there are points in the movie where I felt the story was trying to do too much – everything ultimately comes together in a good way, but there are a few times in the movie where I felt more cohesion was needed. I also felt 10 to 15 minutes could have easily been shaved off the runtime and the ending (which I felt seemed rather disjointed from the rest of the movie) dragged on – in fact, there were at least two or three points near the end I thought would truly be the end of the movie, but it just kept going. Had some of that been cut, the ending of the movie could have been much stronger. Overall, however, I like Coogler’s creativity and hope he keeps bringing that to future projects.
I also felt the casting was also done really well. Michael B. Jordan does a great job in his dual role as as Elijah "Smoke" Moore and Elias "Stack" Moore, and he’s able to give both twins his characteristic charisma (also seen in “Black Panther”) and also give each twin his own distinct personality. I can’t imagine the mental gymnastics Jordan had to do while playing opposite himself, but he did a great job overall. Newcomer Miles Caton is also phenomenal as the twins’ younger cousin, Sammie – he’s got some great natural musical talent, which he’s thankfully able to show off throughout the movie, and I felt he was able to keep up pretty well acting-wise with everyone in the ensemble cast, which includes not only Jordan, but also award winners such as Delroy Lindo and Hailee Steinfeld. Caton definitely has a bright future, and I hope to see him in more projects in the future. The ensemble cast also did a great job, and I liked how everyone got a chance to shine. Jack O’Connell was a particular standout for me and did a wonderful job as the movie’s main antagonist and was perfectly creepy. Wunmi Mosaku also did a great job as Annie, Smoke's wife, and I like how she served as the brains of the group as the movie went on, not entirely unlike Ripley in “Alien.” Overall, the casting was very well done, and everyone put forth great performances.
I also have to praise the crews in charge of the set design, because the scenes set in town look almost exactly like photos of old ghost towns I’ve seen in books, so the people in charge of the overall look of the film definitely nailed that aspect, along with the costumes and makeup. Keeping with the makeup, I appreciated how for the most part, those effects seemed to be mostly practical, which I always enjoy seeing.
Overall, I enjoyed “Sinners” and would give it a solid “B” grade. It’s an overall solid movie, and director Ryan Coogler deserves praise for his vision and overall creativity. I also felt the cast was absolutely fantastic, particularly Michael B. Jordan in his dual role and Miles Caton in his film debut, and I felt the rest of the ensemble cast also did a great job. However, I felt like there could have been more of a deep dive into the musical aspect, and I felt the ending could have definitely could have used some tightening. If you’re a fan of the horror genre, “Sinners” would be a good one to look up. The movie is rated “R” for strong bloody violence, sexual content and language.
