By Abigail Holliday
Staff Writer
“Sinners” was released in theaters on April 18 by “Black Panther” and “Creed” Director Ryan Coogler. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfeld and Miles Canton, the film is a shocking and tragic horror set deep in Mississippi during the Jim Crow era, circa 1932.
Young Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore, played by Miles Canton, goes on a day out with his cousins, the Smokestack twins. Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore, both played by Michael B. Jordan, have returned home from Chicago to open up a juke joint, a place for music and dancing.
“Sinners” alludes to the seven deadly sins tempting the Moore cousins and their friends. The Smokestack twins wreaked havoc through Chicago, stealing from the Irish and Italians to be able to open their juke joint. “Preacher Boy” Sammie is tempted through alcohol and adultery, getting a small taste of the life that fame has to offer.
Before he leaves, Sammie’s father, the pastor, warns him that if “you keep dancing with the Devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”
Sammie performs with his guitar at the twins’ juke joint to a lively crowd; the blues are playing, alcohol is flowing and people are dancing. Mosaku portrayed Annie, Smoke’s wife and a Hoodoo practitioner, who set the tone for the movie, saying, “There are legends of people with the gift of making music so true they can conjure spirits from the past and the future. This gift can bring fame and fortune, but it can also pierce the veil between life and death.”
The blues party is interrupted by Remmick, an Irish vampire who suffered at the hands of the Christians when they expanded into Ireland, and his two guests. They were attracted to the area because they heard Sammie’s voice through the building. They ask for an invite inside, claiming they have money to spend and they, too, can sing and would love a chance to perform. He preaches love and unity and claims that he only wants to help because the KKK is still active and is planning to come after them. His way of “helping” is turning people into vampires like him so they can become a community. What he doesn’t realize is that, in forcing people to become like him, he has become the people he hates.
Remmick was attracted to Sammie and his voice because he can “pierce the veil,” performing alongside past and future performers. In the beautifully transcendent scene, Sammie conjures electric guitarists, ballerinas, Zaouli dancers, Chinese Peking opera performers and many more Black performers throughout history. Remmick wanted to turn Sammie so he could reunite with his family, as being a vampire means your soul is trapped to wander Earth forever alone.
Mary, Stack’s girlfriend, played by Hailee Steinfeld, ventures after the group. Mary, being family, is invited back into the building, starting the horror and attacks and delivering her famous line, “we’re gonna kill every last one of you.”
This movie is a period piece about the Black experience and uses culture and appreciation mixed with historical and supernatural horrors to paint the picture. The juke joint was a sacred space where the Black people of Mississippi could come and relax with music, dancing and beer until they were interrupted by the white vampires who wanted to appropriate their traditions. In the credit scene, an older Sammie calls that night the best and worst night of his life, which encapsulates the American Black experience, according to The Guardian. “Sinners” also gave representation of the Delta Chinese and Native American population in 1930s Mississippi.
“Sinners” has taken the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office, beating out “A Minecraft Movie” and “The Accountant 2.” The film is also only taking a six percent decline in viewers on the second weekend after its release, where most horror movies see a 50-65% decline, according to Blexmedia.
The film has amassed over $161.6 million worldwide since its release, and has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. It has also received an “A” score on CinemaScore, the first ever horror film to score that high in the website’s 47-year existence. Coogler also made a unique deal with Warner Bros., stating that after 25 years, he will solely own the rights to “Sinners,” making it so he and his family will most likely receive royalties for the rest of their lives.
Coogler made history with “Sinners” because it was the first to be shot on Imax (1.43:1) film and Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1), according to the Los Angeles Times, putting him on the same level as Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. Also, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw accomplished another “first” on the set of “Sinners” by being the first woman director to shoot a film on large format IMAX film, according to AP News.
