Sinners
Tapping into the primal power of the blues, Ryan Coogler delivers a brutally original, genre-twisting masterpiece.
Mississippi mayhem: Miles Caton (in doorway).
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
There’s more than a smidgen of ol’ time religion in Ryan Coogler’s Mississippi-set, richly textured hymn to evil and music. A ferociously original, transportive slice of bravura filmmaking, Sinners takes old themes and weaves them into a colourful tapestry with more than a whiff of Tarantino in its tail. And that is a massive compliment.
The year is 1932, the setting the Deep South, and a young lad with a guitar and horrific facial wounds staggers into a white clapboard church. He is embraced by the pastor, who tells him that there is no room for music in the house of the Lord. In fact, it is music that is both the film’s ace card and the downfall of the twin brothers known only as Smoke and Stack. Like Robert De Niro’s double act in the vastly inferior The Alto Knights, Smoke and Stack are both gangsters not to be messed with and both are played by one actor, in this case Michael B. Jordan. Returning to their home ground in Clarksdale, Mississippi – having made a killing in Chicago – the twins quickly exert their authority with the clout of bullets and bucks and purchase an empty building on the outskirts of town. Their aim is to bring music into the lives of their extended family and to check the ingrained racism still evident in them parts. They now have the muscle to fight back and are quick to make their mark.
Initially, it’s not clear where Sinners is going, although Coogler exerts his directorial confidence from the start. Michael B. Jordan has long been the creative muse of Coogler, having appeared in all four of the director’s previous films, including a cameo in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Here, he is as charismatic as ever, exuding equal parts machismo and menace. However, Sinners is very much an ensemble piece, and Coogler has extracted excellent performances from a particularly strong cast. It seems unfair to single out any one player, although Wunmi Mosaku is exceptionally arresting as a medicine woman and old flame of Smoke’s, while Delroy Lindo is irresistible as a hard-drinking piano player.
Equally impressive are the musical sequences, whether it’s newcomer Miles Caton playing his guitar in Stack’s open top car (which turns out to be an impromptu audition), or a musical set piece that transcends cultures and even time itself. And one shouldn’t overlook Jack O’Connell’s plaintive rendering of the Irish folk standard ‘Rocky Road to Dublin.’ The score, too, from the Oscar-winning Ludwig Göransso, is another major bonus.
After Coogler’s dabbling in the pre-set worlds of Rocky and Marvel, it’s rewarding to see the filmmaker bring something so daring and innovative to the screen, a muscular, immersive period drama that bridges many dramatic fields, but with enormous creative texture. He revealed his potential with his first feature, Fruitvale Station (starring Michael B. Jordan), but it’s not until now that he’s really made good on that promise.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Buddy Guy, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Yao, Saul Williams, Helena Hu, Aadyn Encalarde, David Maldonado.
Dir Ryan Coogler, Pro Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Screenplay Ryan Coogler, Ph Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Pro Des Hannah Beachler, Ed Michael P. Shawver, Music Ludwig Göransson, Costumes Ruth E. Carter, Sound Steve Boeddeker, Dialect coaches Beth McGuire, Yetunde Felix-Ukwu and Tony Davoren.
Warner Bros. Pictures/Proximity Media-Warner Bros.
137 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 18 April 2025. Cert. 15.
