Sinners review – Ryan Coogler’s sexy southern gothic horror is a blast

In Black Panther (2018) and its sequel, Wakanda Forever (2022), Ryan Coogler directed two of Marvel’s most satisfying and textured recent movies. His 2015 Rocky spin-off Creed represents the gold standard when it comes to franchise-wrangling, honouring the original series yet standing up and fighting its own corner as a distinct movie. If anyone has earned the chance to make a passion project, it’s Coogler. But who knew that this would result in something as wild, untrammelled and thrillingly unpredictable as Sinners? Starring Michael B Jordan in the dual role of 1930s gangster twins Smoke (surly, threatening) and Stack (charming, reckless), it’s a sweltering, sexy southern gothic horror, a blues-infused vampire flick in which the music flows as freely as the blood.

The brothers leave Chicago with the kind of cash that usually comes with a body count. Back in their Mississippi homeland, they team up with a young cousin, aspiring bluesman Sammie (Miles Caton, an impressive newcomer with deep, rich bourbon-soaked voice). The plan: to open a Black-owned juke joint under the noses of the Ku Klux Klan. But it turns out that an even greater evil awaits them.

If you pick apart the story threads, Sinners is a little messy, but Coogler’s assurance and vision holds everything together. It looks phenomenal: shot on 70mm film, the frame throbs with sultry, come-hither reds and golds. The soundtrack is hot-headed and dangerous – and not just the blues. There’s a feverish, feral version of the Irish folk song Rocky Road to Dublin that still gives me goose bumps a full week later.