Sinners

From minute one the main thing that stood out to me was the cinematography. The surreal, blurry, dreamlike nature of the film created by Autumn Durald was incredible. The anamorphic lenses combined with the 65mm film always kept the focus front and center. I especially liked the close ups when there was that familiar fishbowl feeling. So first and foremost, a beautiful film. The music sequence was stellar with all the performers/dancers from other times; I especially liked the blend of diagetic/non-diagetic sound when Slim was describing the man who was lynched at the train station. It was all these little details throughout that made this a great piece of cinema. Story wise, I loved the originality. I did feel some pacing issues in the middle, I felt like the narrative of this being about Sammy and music could have been tighter (otherwise why include the final bar scene?), but this is really nitpicking! Great actor performances as well! Michael b Jordan and Miles Caton captured every scene. This is what cinema is about.