Time: 138 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Violence, offensive language & content that may disturb
Cast:
Michael B. Jordan as Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore
Hailee Steinfeld as Mary
Miles Caton as Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore
Jack O’Connell as Remmick
Wunmi Mosaku as Annie
Jayme Lawson as Pearline
Omar Miller as Cornbread
Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim
Director: Ryan Coogler

Sinners was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. It’s director Ryan Coogler’s latest movie, a western vampire horror hybrid with a cast that includes Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld and Delroy Lindo. Unfortunately, I had to wait a couple of weeks to watch it, but I had heard very high praise from virtually everyone who watched it. I finally got a chance to watch Sinners, and it lived up to all the acclaim.

Sinners is a mash up of so many elements and genres, westerns, horror, vampires, music, crime thrillers, there’s a lot here. There will be a lot of comparisons to From Dusk Till Dawn, both begin as western crime thrillers which take a sharp horror turn halfway through when vampires enter into the plot. While there are a few scenes teasing the vampire elements inevitably coming into play, Sinners spends its first hour setting up the characters and setting with a gradual build up. This slow burn approach worked excellently, it had me hooked from the very beginning all the way through to the end. Thematically, there’s a lot here; it’s a celebration of black culture and history and with social commentary on racial tensions and cultural appropriation. It’s also a really good action horror thriller and was incredibly satisfying. I loved its take on familiar vampire lore and how it implements it in the movie. One of the things I had heard going into the movie was that it had some credits scenes and that they are worth sticking around for. I can second this. The first credits scene is basically the epilogue for the movie and absolutely shouldn’t be missed, it really should’ve been included before the credits.

It also benefits from a stellar cast. Michael B. Jordan is fantastic and gives quite possibly his best performance(s) as twins. All the supporting actors are great too, including Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li and especially Delroy Lindo and Miles Caton. Jack O’Connell is also a standout as the main villain, menacing, yet charismatic and entertaining.

Ryan Coogler’s an amazing director and he reaches new heights with Sinners. It’s visually stunning and beautifully shot, with some truly spectacular sequences. There’s particularly a scene in the halfway point that people had been hyping up, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. I could only imagine how amazing it would’ve been to watch Sinners in IMAX. The action is top notch too, and the effects for the gore were great. The music was incredible, the music felt like a character of its own within the movie, and Ludwig Göransson’s score was especially amazing.

Sinners is a fantastic, original, ambitious, stylish, thematic, and entertaining vampire horror thriller, phenomenally directed and with amazing performances. Definitely my favourite movie of the year so far.