Deliver Us From Evil: Sinners is a Bloody Good Time
Director Ryan Coogler mashes up genres with panache
4/5 stars
Genre mash-ups are tricky. It takes considerable skill to begin a film as one genre only to drop a second one on the audience halfway through. Fortunately, Ryan Coogler has plenty of talent to make his new film Sinners just such an experience. Despite an unnecessary opening scene that spoils a bit of the fun, Coogler never shows his hand before turning his gangster saga into a horror film and the result looks as if Hoodlum was thrown in a blender with Near Dark. The resulting film is sexy, scary, endlessly entertaining, and with a killer soundtrack to boot.
In Mississippi in 1932, the infamous "Smokestack Twins" (both played by Michael B. Jordan) have returned after years involved with organized crime in Chicago. They plan to leave their life of crime behind and open up a juke joint just outside of their hometown. They buy some land and get together a crew to turn their opening night into an unforgettable party, but unbeknownst to them, an ancient evil has arrived to turn the night into a bloodbath.
Like From Dusk til Dawn and The Descent, the story and characters are so compelling that when the supernatural elements begin seeping in, they threaten to cheapen the rest of the film. But Coogler, like the directors of the aforementioned films, is skilled enough to use them to make a great film even better. The horror in the second half serves to highlight the themes of the first rather than come out of nowhere. I'm trying hard not to spoil the film as the fun is in the uncovering of the plot, so I'll just end by saying go in blind if possible.
Written and directed by Ryan Coogler // Starring Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O'Connell, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Yao, Lola Kirke, Peter Dreimanis, Buddy Guy, and Delroy Lindo // Warner Bros. Pictures // 138 minutes // Rated R
