Shadows on the Wall

Sinners

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir-scr Ryan Coogler
prd Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian
with Michael B Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O'Connell, Delroy Lindo, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li, Yao, Lola Kirke, David Maldonado, Buddy Guy
release US/UK 18.Apr.25
25/US Warners 2h17

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There's an unusual level of audacity in this film that makes it essential viewing, diving into enormous issues with both subtle nuance and over-the-top, bonkers storytelling. Writer-director Ryan Coogler cleverly sets the scene for a tale of swaggering masculinity and gangster revelry before tipping things over into full-on horror mayhem. And underneath the messy surface is a staggeringly powerful exploration of the timeless perils of racism and injustice.

In 1932, Chicago mobster twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Jordan) return to Mississippi to open a juke joint with help from soulful young guitarist Sammie (Caton), blues player Delta Slim (Lindo) and shop-owner friends (Li and Yao). Here, Jim Crow laws have extended slavery into the 20th century, so white supremacists sneer at these well-to-do brothers. Meanwhile, the mischievous Stack dodges his insistent ex Mary (Steinfeld), while the much more serious Smoke reconnects with Annie (Mosaku). Then on the bar's storming opening night, a shady Irish stranger (O'Connell) turns up at the door.

After so carefully setting the scene to establish vivid characters and relationships in the film's first half, Coogler unleashes music and imagery that seem to stretch the fabric of time and space, connecting the story to the present day in a way that's unusually visceral. This is accompanied by woozy camerawork and shifting aspect ratios, augmented by the vivid 65mm film imagery. So when the almost outrageously tactile violence erupts, it's seriously unnerving.

Performances are just as unflinching. Jordan makes both Smoke and Stack likeable, even with their over-confidence. These are darkly complex men, so the chemistry with Steinfeld's tenacious Mary and Mosaku's earthy Annie is unusually textured. Newcomer Caton is the film's heart, grappling with the conflict between Sammie's religious upbringing and his passion for music. His doe-eyed romance with Pearline (the terrific Lawson) is lovely. And O'Connell is chillingly excellent as the man who unleashes an unholy terror.

Magical realism has a strong presence throughout the story, from Sammie's supernatural ability to tap into the primal nature of musicality to the vampiric onslaught of grisliness that propels the story to its fiery climax and thoughtful codas (there's an extended key sequence in the middle of the credits, and a more beautifully tonal one at the very end). This is a bracingly original approach to an urgently important topic. And because it's such a jaw-dropper, it leaves us with a lot to think about.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 15.Apr.25

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