Evil pervades in the fifth collaboration between writer and director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Fruitvale Station, Creed). We’re in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1932, which is where identical twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) return after seven years away. They were part of the Chicago gangland scene, working for Al Capone and before that in the trenches in Germany in WWI.
Now, with fancy threads, pockets full of cash and a truckload of liquor, they buy a disused mill they want to turn into a juke joint. They renew acquaintances with former love interests and folks they knew that with the right incentive will help them out. For Smoke, the former is Hoodoo conjurer and healer Annie (Wunmi Mosaku). For Stack, it is the now married Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), whom he left high and dry.
With Smoke and Stack is their cousin, young sharecropper Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), the son of a preacher, hence he is known as Preacher Boy. He is a gifted blues musician and singer Smoke and Stack will headline alongside local blues legend Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), who can’t say no to a drink. To help out with the hospitality is Grace (Li Jun Li) and her husband Bow Chow (Yao), who run a couple of local grocery stores.
Also in the picture is hefty sharecropper Cornbread (Omar Miller), engaged to serve as doorman. For his part, Sammie’s head is turned by good looker Pearline (Jayme Lawson), a woman in a repressed marriage with a taste for the blues.
The juke joint is up and happening quick smart and a good time is being had by all, until the appearance of a charismatic white missionary. Remmick (Jack O’Connell) and two offsiders are preaching and singing about peace and love, and are looking for entry to the juke. But Smoke and Stack are wary and block them, as it turns out with good reason, for their true purpose is far more sinister, for theirs is a blood sport.
Sinners is a movie with two distinct parts. Let me call them the before and the after, for it swings wildly. The former is the lead up to the opening of the joint and its immediate acceptance by the patrons crying out to let their hair down. The latter is the mayhem created by the arrival of Remmick et al. This is horror with a uniquely Southern Gothic lens.
I was intrigued and involved. That had a lot to do with the look and feel of the film. It is atmospheric. I liked the attention to period detail, the sets, the costuming, the prosthetics created for the soul possessed characters and the music. Michael B. Jordan excels in the dual lead roles, brim full of confidence as Smoke and Stack, each keeping the other in check. The pair is stronger together. They know which way is up and balance out each other.
Miles Caton brings youthful exuberance to Sammie Moore. His eyes wide open, he is looking to absorb as much as he can, as he begins living his dream. There is a world weariness to Delroy Lindo’s representation of Delta Slim. You get the impression that he has lived through much. Hailee Steinfeld brings a yearning to Mary, while Wunmi Mosaku is spiritual as Annie. Li Jun Li is nothing if not pragmatic as Grace, while Jack O’Connell’s Remmick is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Smoke and Stack live out the adage, which is also a line dropped in the film that if “you keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.” Ryan Coogler is at his creative best with Sinners, which surprises and shocks. Among the film’s many highlights is Sammie singing an original number, I Lied to You, to the receptive crowd at the juke joint. And lest you walk out when the final credits start rolling, you stand to miss part of the narrative thread. Stay to the very end.
Score: 9 out of 10.
Alex First
Greg King’s thoughts about the film:
Warfare immerses the audience in the sights and sounds of fierce, close quarters combat – the smell of blood, the agonising cries of badly wounded soldiers, the percussive sounds of bullets and explosives, and the awesome noise of a US fighter jet. The sound design is particularly effective, while the lack of a score helps immerse the audiences in the action. Cinematographer David J Thompson uses handheld cameras to take us into the thick of things. The film is claustrophobic.
The script by co-directors Mendoza and Garland is sparse and stripped back to a tight 90 minutes. Despite the intensity, the pair was careful to ensure that the action was unvarnished and didn’t glorify war. Fin Oates’ precise and rapid editing adds to the overall effect. Warfare is another example of that subgenre of combat porn – intense and visceral depictions of war.
We saw that with the D-Day landing sequence in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and in films like Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, 13 Hours, 12 Strong and others. But Warfare supposedly unfolds in real time, which ramps up the sense of urgency and immediacy. The movie was shot chronologically over five weeks. Most of the cast is relatively unknown, so there are no showy heroics, but they acquit themselves admirably in physically and emotionally demanding roles.
Score: 7 out of 10.
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Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.
