Sinners

Is this a fun vampire action horror movie? Or is it a deep exploration on culture and running away from your problems in life and the consequences that come with freedom?  Or is it both?  All I know is it’s damn good. Will probably give it 5 stars once I rewatch it. (Edit:) I rewatched it.  (In IMAX too :)  I wasn’t ready for this movie the first time I saw it.  It is so complex and so much more than any possible label or genre could possibly be placed on it.  The power of culture and how it binds people and keeps them together is such a powerful thing and this movie is all about that.  The villain Remmick (really amazing performance btw)  represents those that want a piece of that feeling of community and love for themselves and tries to intermix it with his own ideas - “We are going to make such great music together Sammy.” But this film is all about the importance of keeping your background to its roots and not letting it get lost in others jealousy or wants.  The film is about community and the love in it.  The theme of freedom is brought up multiple times in the movie from multiple characters.  Mary wants to be free from the grief of her mothers death, Smoke and Stack want to be free from their past pain of the abuse from their father and their inevitable fate that will come from whatever they are trying to escape in Chicago, and Sammy is trying to be free from his father’s wishes for him to give up music. All of these characters strive for freedom but in the end never get it.  When is the only time they get it?- “That was the last time I saw the sun…and for just a few hours…we were all free.” -Only that night, when their culture was thriving and they were living as a true family with love and dance and music and art, did they truly feel free.