By Spencer de Tenley, Staff Writer 

Vampires, Michael B. Jordan and white supremacy join forces in the compelling new movie “Sinners.” 

Set in the early 1930s, “Sinners” follows main character Sammie Moore, played by Miles Canton, and his shenanigans with his older mob-lord cousins Smoke and Stack, both played by Jordan using a filming strategy reminiscent of “The Parent Trap.” When Smoke and Stack return to rural Mississippi with an abundance of cash from their time with the mob in Chicago, they buy an old sawmill from a mature KKK member in order to open a juke joint as a safe space for the Black folks in the town to gather.  

A variety of characters are recruited to the effort and end up throwing a blowout, blood-ridden opening night when a group of White folks crash the party. Led by Irish-immigrant and vampire Remmick, a stalemate bloodbath commences, eventually culminating with only Sammie and Smoke making it out alive or remaining as human. 

The movie ends with Sammie returning to his father’s church during a service bruised and battered, and Smoke slaughters the collection of KKK members who eventually come to shut down the joint after the vampire attack.   

“Sinners” intermingles racial tensions in the Jim Crow south with supernatural, classic vampire figures, which Jordan sells wonderfully. This mixture toes the line between Black power and Black sorrow, a dichotomy between the vampire onslaught and KKK presence in the film. The movie takes a variety of common tropes with the vampires’ Achilles heels being garlic, sunlight and wooden stakes to the heart, which made it a bit cheesy at times.  

While “Sinners” jumps around from vampires and racism, the central focus is on the vampires, so much so that the white supremacy is almost forgotten about until the end. “Sinners” attempts to tackle two birds with one stone and ends up hitting one heavily, vampires, while neglecting the other, white supremacy.  

In addition to the obvious central plotline, a series of romances are flushed out throughout the film. Sammie finds his love in Pearline, played by Jayme Lawson, who is the namesake for Sammie’s eventual music joint in Chicago shown in the first post credit scene. 

Smoke reconnects with Annie, played by Wunmi Mosaku, and an emotional interaction regarding their deceased child is alluded to throughout the film. Stack on the other hand has a bumpy relationship with Mary, played by Hailee Steinfeld, which leads to his eventual demise.  

Since my last impression of Steinfeld was her stomach-turning, insufferable character from Pitch Perfect 2, I was reluctant to say the least. I had to put my own preconceived notions aside for “Sinners” and, let me say, Steinfeld’s performance was stellar.  

A musically intertwined plot and indomitable perseverance push the film above and beyond. The story is easy to follow while also having undertones and symbolic messaging throughout. I certainly gasped at a few of the jump scares at the beginning, but as the story progressed, the clichés grew too present to keep me grasping at my chair.  

I wish that the KKK members played a larger role than target practice as the film was closing. Dare I say, I wish they were the vampires to begin with. If the story featured a less classic take on vampires its eventual predictability could have been solved, but all in all “Sinners” was certainly enjoyable and a must-watch.