varingblaarSinners
Spoiler warning: If you haven't seen Sinners, I suggest you do so before going any further. If this spoils it for you, it's not my fault.You have been warned.
I'd heard this was a good movie, and I watched a YouTube video discussing Michael B. Jordan as both brothers. But didn't want to know any more before watching.
The opening scene with Sammie walking into church, punctuated by flashes of red eyes against fire, said we're in for a horror movie but I didn't know what kind.
As with many horror movies, there's a cold open to grab your attention, and then we settle in and explain the world. It's post-prohibition Mississippi and the Smoke Stack brothers want to open a juke joint. So of course there's racism. I appreciate when Racism is shown the way it actually impacted people's lives on a daily basis. It makes it feel real. When Lisa Chow has to fetch her mother, she walks from the black side of the street to the white side of the street. Being Asian means her family can own stores on either side. When Hogwood sells barn to the Smoke Stack twins they pay for it outright, but it later becomes clear he had no intention of letting them run their business there. Hogwood felt validated in his actions not because it was right (it clearly wasn't) but because others would support him. The Choctaw tribe makes a quick appearance and though they don't do or say much, it's nice to see them represented well. When the Vampires first arrive (we don't know they're Vampires yet), they try to manipulate the characters using their white skin to make them feel guilty. The characters decline not because they don't want them there, but because if the smallest thing went wrong it could destroy their business and potentially cost them their lives. Overall the Racism of the time is depicted with a lot of care to keep it accurate but make no excuses for it. Explains why so many cultural history consultants appear in the end credits.
The music is great, both the Blues and Irish Folk music. The big scene at Club Juke with music from all cultures and histories (and the future, I don't know what that Bill and Ted nonsense was) serves as an interesting special effects shot, but it felt cheap. The music for that part was an opportunity for layers of different genres moving through each other. Instead it's a cacophony, and by far the loudest part of the movie.
Mississippi Vampires
It's safe to say I didn't see Vampires being the villain, but I wasn't surprised. It's a cool spin on the classic Vampire trope. They follow "the rules"; Garlic and silver, stake through the heart, can't enter a house unless invited... They also have some sort of hive mind. They know each other's memories.
Here's where things start falling apart. The "rules" are inconsistent. They make a big point of "surviving until sunrise" and the Vampires burning up at even the slightest bit of sunlight over the horizon. But when we're introduced to Remmick, wasn't he standing on the porch in the sun steaming a bit? The Choctaw were out looking for him, and made a hasty retreat when the sun was about to set. This implies they felt capable of defending themselves while the sun was shining.
They can't come in unless invited, but when the big doors of the sawmill swing open they come rushing in on their own.They couldn't do it before? Why would the characters deliberately sabotage their defensive position by "letting them in" when they could stand inside the doorway and pick them off one by one? Or is there a maximum size door and anything bigger is just a wall with a hole in it?
I was taking the movie relatively seriously until Slim cut his arm with a bottle to attract the Vampires. The way that blood squirted was the first sign of "oh this movie knows it's ridiculous, and it's leaning into it". It's not bad, but mentally puts it in a different category.
The big final fight had an interesting visual reference. Sammie "Preacherboy" waist deep in the water reciting the Lord's Prayer, before being pushed under several times like a baptism while he explains how "pointless" the whole concept is. It makes for a great final speech by the villain, until he gets a guitar to the face..
Now that I've seen it, next time I won't take it too seriously and enjoy the movie for what it is. It's a slightly schlocky Vampire flick with a few cool special effects.
