Writer and director Ryan Coogler alongside composer Ludwig Göransson return to the silver screen once again with the most heavenly film I’ve ever seen in the form of “Sinners.” 

The film takes place in 1932 and follows twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) as they return to their hometown in the Mississippi Delta in an effort to open a juke joint where the local African American population can enjoy themselves through music. 

The twins go around enlisting the help of community and family members, including their cousin Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) who is gifted with the ability of playing music in such a way that it both heals communities and draws in evil vampires led by Remmick (Jack O’Connell), per the old folklore tale. 

That’s one of the best parts about “Sinners” is how everything is localized in this folklore tale. 

I was worried coming into it that the vampiric aspect of the film would be poorly executed, but I found myself thrilled to see the vampires every time they were on screen. 

Furthermore, the designs of the vampires’ prosthetics such as large nails and sharp teeth are extremely well detailed to where it didn’t feel too scary or too goofy.  

It simply was just what a vampire would look like. 

The acting is perfect in “Sinners” with no one character outshining another as everyone has their own set of talents that make them stunning to watch. 

Jordan playing two twins had me worried about the film leading up to its release as films either hit or miss the mark when having one actor play two different characters. 

“Sinners” does it right as I found myself at profound peace and well-entertained seeing how Jordan portrays the serious “stepping on business” role of Smoke compared to Stack’s more carefree character. 

O’Connell’s line delivery makes him a worthy villain that knows how to get under both Smoke and Stack’s skins that would make them act irrationally if the side characters of the film weren’t present. 

The main side characters are Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), Pearline (Jayme Lawson) and Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo). 

Steinfeld and Mosaku play romantic interests for both Stack and Smoke respectively, and both have incredible chemistry with Jordan. 

The same goes for Lawson who plays the romantic interest for Sammie and has the best chemistry out of anyone in the cast with Caton. 

Delta Slim is honestly just drunken comedic relief for most of the film, but he has his moments where he sobers up as vampires are closing in around the juke joint to solidify his character as worth keeping around. 

Plus, his jokes are genuinely funny to where everyone in my theater was laughing at his jokes. 

But the actor I care most about in this film isn’t Jordan or any of the side characters, but rather Caton. 

“Sinners” is Caton’s acting debut, and his performance is incredible as very song sung by Sammie made me feel like I was levitating, which was aided both by his vocal range and southern accent that each actor nails perfectly. 

There’s one specific song and scene that made me realize how heavenly this was because everyone in my theater was at full attention. 

Hell, the guy sitting next to me put his popcorn down and leaned forward to concentrate more. 

I’m talking about the “I Lied to You/Magic What We Do (Surreal Montage)” one-take in the juke joint where Sammie performs the song of that draws the attention of the vampires to the juke joint. 

Avoiding spoilers, the song and scene manages to capture what the blues truly means a means of inheritance passed down from generation to generation as every genre from rock to EDM has a bit of blues in it. 

Full descriptions of the technical breakdown of that scene are out in some media outlets through interviews with Coogler, but the best way to experience it is by being in the theater yourself. 

The cinematography already had me hooked from the start with its camera movements and a few smaller one-takes here and there, but that scene specifically was the best of the entire movie.  

The film was filmed on 70mm IMAX cameras no less with the 65-pound camera on a Steadicam being used to film the one-take sequence mentioned above. 

I’d even argue that it’s better than the one-take in “1917” in terms of both practicality and design. 

Speaking of design, everything bleeds 1932 from cars to outfits. Even the buildings themselves look and feel like they were ripped right out of the 30s. 

I have nothing to critique “Sinners” for. It’s a godsend for the film industry as it’s an original movie that actually has a good story, characters and filmmaking behind it. 

In addition, the film is: 

• The best reviewed wide-release film of the decade with 98% from critics and 96% from audience members on Rotten Tomatoes 

• The only horror film to get an A on CinemaScore in 35 years 

• Rated 4.3/5 on Letterboxd 

• #1 at the domestic box office with $48 million 

• The biggest domestic opening for an original film this decade 

I highly recommend taking the time to go watch “Sinners” in a theater, and if my word isn’t enough to convince you, let the above statistics speak for themselves. 

Rating: 5/5 

Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.