Sinners - "You gon' bite more than you can chew"

I don’t really get a lot of heads-up on horror movies until people start chatting about it. Sinners was one of those films I saw numerous essays and social media posts about. I didn’t even know it was a vampire movie until about a month before I finally rented the film, and even then I went in blind. I am particularly glad I did.

Set during the 1930’s in the Mississippi Delta, Sinners sees two brothers return to their community after having clandestinely robbed the mobsters they work for. The brothers are twins, WW1 veterans, well-versed in the ways of bootlegging and not given to taking shit. Both men are black, as is the community they return to. They purchase an old property and turn it into a gin joint, inviting all their old friends and neighbors to a rager they’re throwing that night. As night falls, an evil descends on the party, preying on the community, attempting to dig its roots up and out to co-opt into its own sense of Unity.

The performances from the cast were fantastic. What really made the movie stick with me was the theme of sin and faith, as well as the allegories that were beautifully woven into the narrative. It is easy, with a large budget and a talented-cast, to simply make a monster movie and hope your star power will see box office returns. Similarly, when someone wants to put a moral lesson or talking point before the audience in a film, it has become all too common to be hit over the head with preachy, declarative dialogue. Sinners has neither of these problems.

The movie starts with prodigal son imagery the night after the even before winding back a day. While the character Sammie has hardly ventured out into the world, he is the focus of his father and his neighbors as he weighs his love of the blues with his father’s preacher trade and teachings. Sammie is expected to give up his life for the church and his community. Similarly his cousins, the twins Smoke and Stack, have returned from their time away from their family and friends. They both seem to have reaped the benefits of the violence and lusts of the world, and return intent on sharing that good feeling. Yet Smoke and Stack are no more damned than Sammie for all their sins.

Perhaps it’s because the twins are not much more than gangsters and Sammie is actually a beautifully talented Blues musician that the vampire Remmick takes notice of. There’s a particularly powerful pair of scenes, both musical numbers that call back to where the people singing are from. More than that, the music and imagery both work together to call back to the ancestors- all those that came before us who live. Sammie’s music calls back those from the past and the future, resonates with them and bridges the gaps in time. Remmick hears this, is drawn in by this, and he covets it.

Vampirism as an allegory for the rich and powerful praying on the powerless and mortal is no new thing. Sinners shows slight variations to the vampire mythology in having them share memories with one another after they are turned. This means that no one vampire has a thought that is not heard by the group. Moreover the absolute euphoria that comes with vampirism gives the vampires power and glee to go with their need to envelop and assimilate. “Fellowship and Love” is the refrain Remmick and his crew constantly fall back on. Knowing Remmick’s nature, seeing the genuine care the community has for each other, gives the truth to the lie the vampire serves with genuine charm and charisma. This vampirism is different because it in effect takes away the personhood of the victim. It parallels the dreaded “Selling Out” or “Doing Just as Your Daddy Taught You” fate of millions across history. The vampires are a powerful hive of evil that rules as soon as the sun’s light goes away for a little while. They are powerful in their element, but as people, as living things, they are little more than a spooky pack of rats.

The ending is particularly poignant. I won’t spoil it, because I honestly think this film is worth seeing and its relatively new. I feel it was possibly the most human, the most proper way a modern vampire story should end.

These reviews I post are for fun. I’m sure a whole book could be written on Sinners, its influences, Blues music and the nature of cultural assimilation/appropriation. I will reiterate that its worth seeing, especially if you’re a fan of subtle, fantastic screenwriting.