SINNERS : DOES IT LIVE UP TO THE HYPE?

THE FILM EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT

If you haven’t heard of Ryan Coogler’s latest film, SINNERS, you must be living under a ton of rocks. Reviews, debates, and discussions about SINNERS are ubiquitous! Most of the aforementioned is positive. It was so positive that I found myself rushing to my local theater to see the film. I couldn’t wait to spend my money on a ticket and of course goodies at the concession stand. Like the toddler, accompanied by his mother in line in front of me, I was blooming with excitement. After sitting through one too many previews of horror films, I was more than ready to see the film when it finally began.

It opened highlighting the significance of music in different cultures. I found this to be intriguing. Then we were brought to the setting of the film, Mississippi in 1932. This caught my attention because my husband was born in Mississippi and my mother was born in 1939. Yes, I quickly did the math, marveling at the fact that she would have been born seven years later. I digress. Then Sammie Moore, impressively played by Miles Caton, pulled up in a car and his face was scarred. It was obvious that he’d experienced some kind of trauma. He entered his father’s church with the frayed handle of a guitar in tow. Then his father began praying for him and then we were taken to the day prior where we were introduced to other characters. I was pleased to see the twins—STACK and SMOKE, masterfully played by Michael B. Jordan, appear on screen. The twins had returned to Mississippi from Chicago to open a Juke Joint.

There are myriad characters that help tell the story. All of them are visibly talented and several stood out: Wunmi Mosaku portrayed Annie, Smoke’s estranged wife; Delroy Lindo portrayed Delta Slim, a musician and low key alcoholic; Hailee Steinfeld portrayed the love interest of Stack; Jayme Lawson portrayed Pearline, the love interest of the young Sammie; Omar Benson portrayed Cornbread and Li Jun Li portrayed Grace Chow. Last but not least, guitarist, Buddy Guy, played himself.

The core of the story revolved around the twins’ grand opening of their Juke Joint and Sammie Moore, their young cousin and son of a preacher, ignoring his father’s warning about playing the devil’s music. The Juke Joint opened with a splash and all went well until it didn't. Those dark spirits that young Sammie had been warned about reared their ugly heads and all hell broke loose.

The film with its great writing, directing, acting, and cinemaphotography, pulled me in. I’m not a fan of horror films, and there have been many debates about whether this film falls under that genre, but whether it does or doesn’t, Ryan Coogler pulled me in and I found myself engrossed in the film until the end. With that said, the film definitely lives up to the hype.

Bravo to all!!!