Sinners Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
A few years ago, I loosely adopted this policy of not consuming any promotions around buzzy films. As much as possible, I don’t watch trailers and only catch certain interviews.
Some times, like today, that strategy pays off SO well you guys!
I went into this film with as little information as possible, and AM I GLAD!
If YOU wanna know more about Sinners, toh aao.
So like I said, I purposefully went to watch Sinners kaafi unaware of what it is about, and as such, the first 10–15 were a massive struggle. I admit that’s primarily because I couldn’t quite understand the southern American accent the actors were speaking in, oopar se its set in 1932 and the speakers are African American, AND the theatre did not have subtitles. Essentially mera skill issue.
But Miles Caton, as young blues singer Sammie, longing to go out in the big bad world, kept appealing to my sense of adventure, even when the very scare jump scare in the very first sequence caught me unpleasantly off guard. Guiding Sammie on this new path are his two cousins, both played by Michael B Jordan. Smoke and Stack are World War 1 veterans, and idhar udhar se, legal illegal paise jod kar, now are back in Mississippi to start a business. They’re getting friends and family together for the grand opening of their dance and music club, called a Juke Joint called Club Duke. Not just a nightclub — a sanctuary. A defiance and a resurrection.
Of course because this is 1932, the brothers are always on the lookout — despite assurance from their landlord that the Ku Klux Klan doesn’t exist anymore, they know there are snakes among them. In one scene a brother kills a literal serpent trying to claim his supply truck.
Ryan Coogler then slowly allows you into his massive, genre-blending, teeth-baring film. Shuruat mein, we are told by a disembodied female voice that some musicians play with such talent and soul that they not only perform for those around them, but are capable of conjuring spirits from the past and the future. This premonition is soon supplemented by one of the most exhilarating scenes I’ve seen in big-budget cinema off late. As Sammie’s fingers dance over his guitar strings, the Juke Joint goes into a frenzy, the dancing is so raucous, you can feel heat generated by stomping feet emanating from the screen. As vibrations soar, humans are joined by spirits. Most show up in a myriad of traditional African gear, but also from this current era where youre watching this video. A DJ, hip hop artists, and a woman covered head to toe in beads, a person shrouded. There’s also a Chinese spirit, everyone is vibing to Sammie’s singing and guitar, unaware of each other. Shot in long unhurried takes, this room is full of the kind of divine joy, peace, and dissociation only transcendental music can bring.
However, the music also attracts white vampires, undead remnants of racism, drawn to this heat like moths. When these two realms collide, a moment that is in no hurry to arrive, Sinners comes alive.
The premise is such a wild swing. But it's also personal, designed to be move. Coogler recognises that art carries the blessing and curse of being able to channel healing, and some artists feel the weight of this responsibility heavier than others. Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan have made MANY films together now, all dedicated to reminding viewers about many deep-rooted truths and social injustices hiding in plain sight. In Sinners, they once again do it via fantasy, but the world-building is so rich, the film never feels like surreal. This supernatural world inside a very real one, a history that did exist, whose bloodstains are still visible.
“You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home,” Sammie’s father, the pastor, tells him. The devil is Remmick, a white vampire who first prays on gullible white American Ku Kulx Klan racists and then anyone who gives him a minute of their time, converting everyone rapidly. Coogler goes full-throttle with the metaphor. “I want your stories and I want your songs,” Remmick says to Sammie.
Like, yeah, sure, this isn’t “what happened,” but it’s kind of what happened. And hasn’t quite gone away.
Coogler’s tone is wild and unruly. Is this about religion? Racism? Is this a musical, a horror, or a comedy?
The answer is YES.
And I’m sure I missed a million things. Because this is a film deeply rooted in American history, a country I haven’t grown up in, and whose legacy I’m still learning. But that’s what made it fun for me. Watching Coogler tell stories that are personal and precise, while still letting someone like me, someone on the outside, find a way in through rhythm and metaphor.
Not sure what note Coogler wanted us to leave with, the film’s post credit scene feels more at home with Black Panther then Sinners. But honestly, I’m not mad. Because Sinners is such a huge swing, even for a phattu non-horror watcher like me, I can’t wait to watch it again.
And don’t worry about not having enough background into the story here, any film about legacy and oppression that shapeshifts and about art as rebellion will always be universal, go watch at a movie theatre near you!
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, Sinners is…..1 time even if you’ve been to the Mahindra Blue’s Festival in Mumbai, there is a LOVELY surprise toward the end of this film. Dekhna, and then come tell me later. —
