Sinners

"For a few hours, before the sun went down, we were truly free." man, i don’t even know where to begin… well, i’m going to start by saying i came to see this movie fearful of what i may think of it. the raving reviews made me not so confident of my enjoyment of this film but i am so glad i was wrong. Ryan Coogler’s first blank check film is one for the ages in my opinion. the hour it spends setting up its characters is perfect. the more you know about them and their stories, the more it hurts when the major plot points are unravelled. the way it captured me for its entirety is nothing short of extraordinary and it may as well be one of my favourite films from this decade.  its celebration of african-american culture is received with open arms, being it central to the plot, which revolves around the blues and its roots, first being called “the devil’s music” and further in the film being celebrated in church. speaking of blues, the soundtrack is completely captivating, as Ludwig Göransson knocks it out of the park with this one. his work in “Oppenheimer” fully cemented himself as the next king of movie soundtracking but this puts him on a pedestal.  Michael B. Jordan is able to portray two different characters – Smoke and Stack – in such a rich and fully immersive fashion. while at times i couldn’t tell who was who, given a situation they were in, i could fully understand the differences between these two brothers, their life experiences and distinct personalities. The rest of the main cast is no worse than Michael, their characters are displayed with such mastery i still feel as they were real.  while not all is sunshine and rainbows, there were some sequences i did not particularly enjoy which by no means take away my enjoyment of the film. cliches are by the dozen although i believe there wasn’t much Coogler could do, given he chose to make a vampire thriller.  on the whole, this Coogler epic is one of my favourite things i have watched this decade and the IMAX 70 mm experience is still unparalleled. Sinners does its job well, even more than was asked.