LOS ANGELES, April 10 (UPI) -- Sinners, in theaters April 18, reinvigorates the vampire genre with writer-director Ryan Coogler's distinct vision. The film includes the staples of the genre with fun twists, and gives the movie a literal heartbeat via authentic and anachronistic music.
Michael B. Jordan plays the dual roles of Smoke and Stack, twin brothers who buy a farmhouse space in Clarksdale, Miss., in 1932 and open a juke joint for the community. The pair recruit local musicians like Slim (Delroy Lindo) to perform, and to reconnect with their former lovers Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) and Annie (Wunmi Mosaku).
Meanwhile, the sinister Remmick (Jack O'Connell) shows up at Bert (Peter Dreimanis) and Joan's (Lola Kirke) ranch and is recovering from burns he claims are from an attack. Visiting Navajos warn Joan about the stranger, but when the trio show up to Club Juke on opening night it is clear Remmick has turned the ranchers into vampires.
Remmick, Bert and Joan offer to play music for Smoke and Stack, who refuse for artistic and social reasons. Pretty soon, however, they and their guests are fending off the trio and a growing horde of vampires.
Coogler's story has parallels with vampire classic From Dusk Till Dawn, though his unique touches make Sinners as distinct as Dusk was in 1996. Dusk advertised the vampires but made viewers wait until halfway through a crime caper to reveal them.
The vampires attack at the midway point of Sinners too, though it is not quite as abrupt a turn. The scenes between Remmick and Bert and Joan set up their impending arrival at Club Juke.
The music gives Sinners an original take on vampires. Not only do blues and hip hop score the films but the vampires even do an Irish jig, with their now undead victims joining the chorus.
Coogler relates the '30s music to Black music past and present, domestic and international. One surreal sequence has the club's musicians joined by an electric guitarist, DJ with turntables, rapper on mic, and African tribal performers breaking the boundaries of time in the film's period setting while modern dancers twerk along.
Ludwig Göransson's score, supervised with Serena Göransson, threads the film's disparate elements together like a rock opera. Whether characters are performing on screen, in the background, or the Göranssons are conducting a medley of styles, Sinners flows gracefully.
Most vampire movies reference the mythology established by Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula. The audience is waiting to see how Coogler will address those hallmarks, and he delivers on that front too.
It is invigorating when characters figure out the vampires can't enter the club without an invitation, and have to face their loved ones reborn as undead. Annie educates the others about garlic and holy water as she is already steeped in other cultural mythology, so vampires fall under her purview.
For sheer horror, vampires display their horrific injuries when they awaken from being bitten. The film's gore makeup has earned its place in the pages of Fangoria magazine, as the movie graces the cover of the horror magazine.
As writer and director, Coogler assures viewers they are in the hands of a filmmaker guiding them through both simple and complex ideas. Backroom gamblers beat a cheater to the rhythm of the band, but Coogler also uses the vehicle of horror to address social injustices.
One such instance is when Smoke and Stack argue about whether to accept wooden nickels and other currency specifically held by Black people in the era. Smoke argues for cash only but Stack makes the case for the value of community and empowering their brethren.
Coogler's camera follows characters across a main street full of shops and authentically dressed locals, from one interior to another and back, firmly establishing the town as a populated place that lives and breathes outside the specific events of the film. He performs some elaborate shots within Club Juke too.
Coogler used IMAX film cameras to capture some sequences and they are as striking as sequences in Christopher Nolan films or Top Gun: Maverick. Whether on Main St. of Clarksdale, cotton fields or Club Juke, IMAX lets the setting envelop the viewer.
While the characters are sexual entities, talking explicitly about their past love affairs and future hopes, the visuals are not as graphic as the language. Instead, these scenes tastefully show them as human beings with the need for physical touch and connection as much as music and socializing.
The evening proves an awakening for young Sammie (Miles Caton), the son of the local preacher. Sammie is excited to hear and play music while partying with grown-ups, but is forced to mature even further when he joins the fight for survival.
In his past three films, Coogler has used his clout to bring poignancy to his favorite franchises - the Rocky series in Creed and comic books in Black Panther. He is every bit as successful with his own horror mythology.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
