SINNERS
(director/writer: Ryan Coogler; cinematographer: Autumn Durald Arkapaw; editor: Michael P. Shawyer; music: Ludwig Goransson; cast: Michael B Jordan (Smoke/Stack), Delroy Lindo (Delta Slim), Miles Caton (Sammie), Omar Miller (Cornbread), Wunmi Mosaku (Annie), Jack O’Connell (Remmick), Hailee Steinfeld (Mary), Jayme Lawson (Pearline), Li Jun Li (Grace Chow), Peter Dreimanis (Bert), Lola Kirke (Joan), Buddy Guy (Jazz Musician), Nathaniel Arcand (Chayton), Saul Williams (Jedidiah) Yao (Bo Chow), Helena Hu (Lisa Chow), David Maldonado (Hogwood); Runtime: 137; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Zinzi Coogler, Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian; Warner Bros.; 2025)
“Gives us a good idea of what life was like during the Jim Crow period in the Deep South.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
An epic mainstream period thriller-musical-horror pic set in a single day in 1932 Clarksdale, a rural small town on the Mississippi Delta of sharecroppers, blues singers and rednecks. The ambitious and sometimes unwieldy pic, with enough material for a few films, is written and directed by Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”/”Creed”) with originality, passion and soul. It’s riveting when it works and is still bloody good fun even when it hits a wrong note.
The identical twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B Jordan) are returning home to Mississippi from fighting in WWI and from an extended stay in Al Capone’s Chicago working for the mob leader on the streets. The boys as gangsters raised the cash to open a juke joint in the Deep South, something they always dreamed about doing. The spot they picked for Club Juke is a sawmill once used by the KKK. To open the juke joint, the boys fully stock it with booze brought from Chicago and get their friends in their close-knit community involved. That would include Cornbread (Omar Miller) as security guard, their teenager blues guitarist cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), the blues singer Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), the Chinese-American grocers Grace and Bo (Li Jun Lun Li, Yao), and their ex-sweethearts Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) and Annie (Wunmi Mosaku).
On the opening night, things turn supernatural as red-eyed vampires show up in an attack mode, led by the terrorizing KKK member Remmick (Jack O’Connell). His presence translates that the vampire is part of the white cultural heritage that wants to take away the Black man’s rights (such as its support for segregation).
It results in the party-goers of color in the juke crowd clashing all night until dawn with the undead folk singing whites. The message is that the Black man has to fight for his freedom, and if the only way to make it in society is through criminal activity–so be it.
The pic works best when seen on a big screen and in IMAX. The ensemble cast rolls with the goofy story (with great performances by Michael B. Jordan, the newcomer musician Miles Caton and Hailee Steinfeld), the music is a blast, and the social commentary gives us a good idea of what life was like during the Jim Crow period in the Deep South.
The end credits are worth sticking around for.
REVIEWED ON 4/19/2025 GRADE: A-
dennisschwartzreviews.com