There’s room in this world for all sorts of horror, be it schlock or awe. For every Exorcist there’s a Paranormal Activity. For every Fly there’s a Re-Animator. And for every Halloween there’s a Terrifier. They all can exist without conflict for every horror fan to embrace. However, when horror is made by storytellers that get it, love it, but have much more to say than “Ooh! Look! Blood!” that’s how masterpieces are born, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is one such film: a profound masterpiece of survival horror!

Coogler has made a total of five films in his career: Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and now Sinners. With a filmography like that, you simply cannot deny the fact that he is without a doubt one of the best filmmakers working today. Ryan Coogler does not miss! Every film he has ever crafted speaks, not only to the Black experience, but to society as a whole in a greater, deeper, and honest way than we typically see within the genres he plays with.

With the amazing Fruitvale Station being a stunning indie drama, one could easily see how a movie about police brutality and corruption could be a prestige film. However, handling a Rocky spin off and two MCU films would make anyone skeptical about the potential for complexity and depth in those projects; along with Sinners — Coogler’s first foray into horror. Yet, Creed became an Academy Award nominee, and Black Panther redefined superhero films forever, becoming the first ever nominated for Best Picture. Both Black Panther films created an absolute phenomenon from their historic box office runs to their impacts on Black representation and Black cultural significance in cinematic history. Now with Sinners, we find Coogler taking something that could have easily been a From Dusk Till Dawn knock off under any other filmmaker, and transforming it into a richly complex, thought-provoking exploration of the evils of cultural appropriation and White hegemony and supremacy.

Now the last thing I would want to do would be to spoil any of the surprises in store for you. So to quickly summarize the film in the least spoiler-way possible, Sinners is set in post-Prohibition, Jim Crow-era Mississippi, and centers on twin brothers (played by Coogler mainstay, Michael B. Jordan) Smoke and Stack. Following military service during World War I, and a stint as gangsters working for Al Capone in Chicago, the two come back home, take their musically gifted cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) under their wing, and decide to buy an abandoned factory they’re planning to convert into a nightclub, to hold a grand party for their impoverished community.

As we find out more about Smoke and Stack’s personal lives, a group of supernatural strangers mysteriously appears threatening to wreak havoc on Smoke, Stack, their family, and friends all during the course of a single bloody, nightmarish evening which the brothers and their companions must survive.

There is a *huge* supernatural element to the film that firmly puts it in a specific subcategory of horror that I don’t want to spoil. And if you have seen the trailers you’ve likely pieced together which subcategory that is. However, for anyone refusing to be spoiled (and trust me it’s more fun that way), I’m going to issue a warning since I’ll be going into more details about said subgenre within this review in more depth, as is necessary for me to explain the brilliance behind Sinners.

In other words: SPOILER WARNING BEGINS NOW!

Sinners is gloriously part of the “vampire” subgenre of survival horror. Coogler has taken a genre that has been done to death and (in an ironic twist) brilliantly resuscitated new life into it. As a fan of vampire fiction, I simply could not be more thrilled. Coogler himself will tell you though, that more than being a “vampire” movie, Sinners is ultimately about the power of The Blues and the power of music. That said, these themes are made all the stronger by the vampiric motifs, as Coogler subtly plays with the two ideas to give us an allegory about how cultural appropriation is essentially akin to vampirism. That’s what makes Sinners absolutely brilliant.

I can safely say that as a fan of Anne Rice’s novels, Buffy, The Lost Boys, and even What We Do in the Shadows, I’ve literally never seen any vampire film tackle such a heavy and relevant subject in such a tremendous way. Now granted, as a genre, horror has always boldly tackled allegories about society in the best ways. Even The Substance last year had a terrific message about how the entertainment industry shuns people of a certain age. Sinners is no exception, achieving the same heights in its social commentary that we saw Jordan Peele achieve with Get Out. The way Coogler uses actual vampires to literally attempt to claim the power from music that isn’t theirs for themselves makes this one of the most clever satires on the subject matter of hegemony; particularly throughout the history of Blues music.

As blatant as all this sounds however, like with his other films, Coogler never shoves these themes into the faces of the audience. He has proven himself an expert at organically weaving the deeper messages of his movies into the DNA of his films themselves from beginning to end, so they never come across preachy. For Sinners, this is so beneficial because this film, in particular, is a definitive crowd pleaser. The action sequences are fun, the horror and blood are explosive, and the tension Coogler builds once we begin questioning the intentions of characters we’ve endeared ourselves to is so incredibly thrilling. It ultimately results in a blast that essentially takes the best parts of From Dusk Till Dawn, Lovecraft Country, Salem’s Lot, and a splash of Inglorious Basterds, and injects all of this with Coogler’s signature purpose and emotion.

Prior to getting to the amazing performances, the film’s other MVP is its genius composer, Oscar-winner Ludwig Göransson. Obviously Göransson and Coogler did amazing work together on Black Panther and Wakanda Forever. However, the composer’s work in Sinners is probably at its most crucial here, given the heavy focus the film has on music. Like any composer worth more than his salt, Göransson’s work does enhance the horror by giving us swelling themes that drive us to the edge of our seats at a moment’s notice. More than this, though, his themes pay the deepest homages to the Southern Blues, fully immersing you in the Bluegrass-tinged history of one of the most socially hostile eras in American history. The use of banjo and guitar riffs create an atmosphere of the danger that follows and surrounds the Smoke/Stack brothers, and raises the sense of urgency for them and their peers to survive the Jim Crow South.

And yet, Göransson also manages to do something else incredible. In addition to paying homage to Blues and Bluegrass music of the era, he finds a way to blend it all together with the past, present, and future of the musical genre. This is a very difficult thing to do, but it’s so important for the film, because the power of the music we hear, particularly coming from Caton’s character Sammie, must do this as well for us to believe it as the most crucial focal point of the film’s story. As such, the pressure on Göransson to deliver such melodies as well to emphasize Coogler’s narrative themes was high. And without a single shadow of doubt, I can fully say Göransson’s musical themes nail this 1,000%. Which in turn is powerful, when you consider the idea that a White man is adapting music originating from Black musical culture to help a Black director tell a story about Black history. There’s a beautiful reciprocation between Göransson and Coogler that speaks to the greater harmony that can come from true and sincere restitution.

Now having paid proper homage to the film’s MVPs behind the camera, let’s turn our attention to the ones in front of it. The entire ensemble of Sinners is incredible. To the surprise of no one, Michael B. Jordan absolutely slays the challenges of his dual role-performance, giving us completely unique personalities and performances for both Smoke and Stack. His performance as Stack is utterly smooth and charming as hell, as is dictated by the fast-talking, calmer personality of the character. Whereas his performance as Smoke is strong, silent, and much more aggressive and angry. The way these two characters interact with one another, especially given the challenge of Jordan needing to act solely alongside himself for many scenes, is brilliant, as it fully enables us to embrace and cherish the emotional stakes of their relationship, and the impact of the consequences of the film on the brothers.

In supporting performances Wunmi Mosaku proves once more she’s one of the most underrated performers in the industry today, giving us a performance full of heart and guts, breathing life and a touch of magic into such a lovely and sensitive character as Annie. Hailee Steinfeld also delivers a wonderful performance as Mary, Stack’s true love, brimming with pathos, anger, sympathy, and sexual energy. Screen legend Delroy Lindo is also along for the ride, giving us a very funny performance as the perennially inebriated Blues musician Delta Slim. Li Jun Li gifts us another terrific and charismatic performance as Grace, a local grocer desperately fighting for the lives of her and her family. Finally, on the villain side of the film, Jack O’Connell gives an absolutely nefarious performance, *but* also one that is charismatic and charming. The film continuously talks about dancing with the devil, and O’Connell’s vampiric villain is as seductive as it gets in terms of his motivations and actual kindly demeanor. He plays a well-written villain in the sense that, as with all of Coogler’s antagonists, there’s always a side to their story and motivations that feels almost justifiable at times.

Now while all of these performances are fierce and amazing, I do have to say I wish we got a lot more of Steinfeld, Lindo, and Li. That said, the one thing one needs to remember when watching any vampire story is that characters who are bitten and converted are actually required to play dual performances as well: one depicting their original self and one for their vampiric self. There is no way in hell I’m spoiling who this applies to. However, let’s just say Jordan isn’t the only one who has to deliver a dual performance (in his case as human twins). And those that are required to explore their human side and their vampiric side do such an incredibly wonderful job of it, bringing emotion when necessary and bloody chaos once they turn.

The movie tends to solely focus on Smoke/Stack, Annie, and one other character I have not mentioned yet, because in my opinion, within a stacked cast, it was completely shocking to see that the most incredible performance in the film belongs to a single individual just making his mind-blowing cinematic debut now, and that is Miles Caton.

Caton deserves his own segment of this review because he is that damn impressive. It’s easy to give a phenomenal performer as Jordan credit for a phenomenal performance. However, for my money, Caton is the absolute cinema-stealer here, coming from nowhere to absolutely surprise me by putting on a bold, brilliant, tormented performance. Oh yeah, and he sings and plays the guitar like an absolute goddamn angel! This is a certifiably star-making performance for the young actor, who showcases power, not only in his vocal abilities, but also in his ability to bring Sammie to life and have us fall in love with him instantly. The character comes with a lot of innocence but so much drive as well. It’s impossible not to love him the same way Smoke and Stack do. This is because Caton is able to embellish his quiet performance with so much heart and emotion. He’s 100% the film’s heart, soul, and unassuming hero, and it’s because of the sincerity within every perfect expression on Caton’s face. My god, I haven’t seen a debut this impressive since we first met a young Chadwick Boseman explode into the scene in 42 (RIP King).

Now that we’ve discussed the amazing performances, the music, and Coogler’s brilliant script and direction, I need to also point out the technical genius behind everything that we see in Sinners. Starting with the cinematography courtesy of Wakanda Forever director of photography, Autumn Durald Arkapaw. There is a brilliant darkness and also a sense of hope that Arkapaw instills into every gorgeous frame of Sinners, from a one-take showcasing the impact of Sammie’s music on history, to the twisted and terrifying frames of glowing eyes and growling fangs that send shivers down your spine. Arkapaw knows how to toe the line to make the imagery in Sinners terrifying one moment, and heartbreaking the next. And her amazing work is further enhanced by the film’s production design and costumes, by Coogler mainstays Hannah Beachler and Ruth E. Carter; both of which, team up with Arkapaw to absolutely transport us into the 1930s seamlessly capturing the pitch perfect aesthetics of the era.

Naturally no film can be perfect, and Sinners, as brilliant as it is, is no exception. If I had one nitpick of the film it’s that the pacing in the first act is much slower than the rest of the film. However, while many may write this off as a slow burn of sorts, the steadier pace of this act is absolutely necessary to set up the relationships and emotional connections between the ensemble and Smoke and Stack. We need to know who these characters are and what they mean to each other in order for the explosive powder keg that embodies the second and final acts of the movie to mean something to us, and Coogler is so good at this, because we do. We feel the emotional impacts of the horror from the film because of what’s established in that first act. However, I can see it straining the attention of folks with more limited patience. I even felt for a few mins this first act dragged a little. However, by the end of the film, I had zero complaints about it because it all pays off brilliantly in thrilling and emotional ways.

Overall, I could go on all day about how much I loved Sinners. In a year fairly bereft of impressive films (with Companion being one of the few that truly blew my mind), Coogler’s first foray into horror has shot up at lightspeed to become my favorite film of the year so far, without question. It is a smart, sexy, spooky, and sensational movie, and Coogler proves again why he’s one of the best filmmakers today! Sinners absolutely elevates survival horror beyond its limits through the director’s terrific thought provoking themes, memorable characters, incredible music, and brilliant performances! You simply couldn’t ask for a more heart-racing, heartfelt, profound, and enjoyable experience in the cinema this year! Here’s to you, Ryan Coogler!

Overall Score (on an entertainment level): A
Overall Score (on a representation level): A+

Sinners hits theaters April 18! Stay tuned to The Nerds of Color for much more on this amazing movie, including interviews with the cast, including Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and Hailee Steinfeld! All coming soon!