Sinners

I done goofed by putting Sketch as my Sunday pick. I remembered that no one reads Sunday reviews, so I pushed today's movie back, but I wasn't expecting to love Sketch so much. Oh well... When I asked for suggestions, this was the overwhelming favorite. So let's talk about...

Sinners (2025)

Before I begin, let me tell you something that's always bugged me about certain vampire movies. This movie does it, but then it kind of changes its mind in a way that doesn't get addressed, or, entirely possible, I just missed it. It's when a vampire turns, and they're immediately evil. They don't even seem hungry; they just immediately want to run to the nearest living thing and kill it. I get that for zombies, they're brainless eating machines, but not vampires. A zombie loses everything about who it used to be; it's an empty vessel powered by hunger, but a vampire is still themselves. It has its memories, its personality and everything else that goes with it. It's just immortal. It doesn't make sense to me that a person who just minutes before was trying to protect their friends would immediately turn evil after dying. There's a disconnect that I don't understand, and Sinners muddies the water even further, which I'll get to later.

It's 1931, and two twin brothers, played by Michael B. Jordan, came home from Chicago to open a juke joint. A juke joint is an informal business operated by African Americans to give them a space to drink, gamble, dance and play music without having to worry about the horrible racism of the day. The brothers are veterans of the Great War, and their reputation carries a lot of weight in their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. The first hour or so, it's the brothers, Smoke and Stack, getting everything ready for opening night. They're going into town, getting supplies, setting up and recruiting people for the big night. Not to mention, intimidating anyone who happens to look at them funny. I don't use the word "aura" too often because it gets overused, but these two have it, and their presence gets everyone to stop what they're doing and take notice.

I have to say, I loved this part of the movie. There's nothing supernatural, or even scary, going on, well, except for the sudden appearance of a rattlesnake that was terrifying. I love that type of southern accent, and watching Michael B. Jordan strut around with all the confidence, charm and charisma in the world was just a joy to watch. As an aside, I lived in Florida for two years, and I can't tell you enough how disappointed I was in the severe lack of southern accents. I never once heard someone refer to a grocery cart as a "buggie!"

Things take a turn when a solitary vampire is chased by the Choctaw Tribe into the home of some Klan members. The natives take note of the setting sun, so they peace out and essentially give the woman holding a rifle the ol, "Good luck, sucks to be you," and they get out of dodge. Naturally, things don't go well for the Klansman and Klanswoman.

We fast forward a bit and the, now three vampires, are attracted to the music played by Sammie, a cousin of the two brothers. The intro of the movie goes into the importance of music, so it makes sense, but it's a little more into the weeds than I want to get into for this review. It will sound corny trying to explain it here, but everything fits. The trio wants to get in, but they're rebuffed by Smoke and Smack because they're white and are giving off some creepy vibes. So they leave, but promise not to go too far in case the group changes their minds. It's when one of the humans goes out to talk to them that the movie kicks into high gear.

I feel weird saying this, but the movie becomes less interesting once the actual horror starts. It's still very good, don't get me wrong, but I was really into the story of the brothers and their juke joint. From here, it follows a lot of the same beats of many vampire/zombie movies. They prepare for battle, the vampires patiently wait outside to be invited in, one person acts rashly, vampires come in and a whole lot of death follows. It's not a bad formula, but you've seen it many times before.

I think I liked the other part more because the movie took its time with the characters. It's a longer movie, like 2 and a quarter hours, so you get to spend time with them before they're in panic mode. My favorite was Delta Slim, played by the always welcome Delroy Lindo. He was an old drunk that they recruited because he could play the hell out of the piano. I don't want to call him the comic relief, because he was so much more than that, but he was the funny one and got to have some of the best moments. The scene where they're eating a clove of garlic to prove they're human is wonderful because of Slim's reaction and his matter-of-fact explanation for his coughing fit while a gun is pointed at his face.

There's also a scene I want to talk about; as I mentioned earlier, music plays a major role in this movie, and it's actually what drives the plot. After the main baddie, Remmick, has revealed himself and built himself a nice little army, he starts singing "Rocky Road to Dublin," and all the vampires provide accompaniment, and they all start dancing. My first thought was, What the hell is this? But the more it went on, and he started doing some Irish dancing, I was enthralled. It also became my favorite scene in the movie, and it's one I've watched several times on YouTube. It starts so eerily with how it's lit. You get the moonlight and a weird glow in his eyes. The song starts slow and haunting, but then picks up when the rest of the vampires join in, and it turns into a giant party.

There were some things I didn't care for, and I'm venturing into spoiler territory, so skip ahead if you want to go in fresh. For starters, at the end, Sammie is fighting Remmick in a little pond. In between the pond and the juke joint, there are a whole bunch of vampires watching the fight. One of the heroes has a move out of Plot Armor, The Character, I mean Arya Stark, and dues ex machinas to save the day. Like, there's absolutely no way he could have made it through the crowd without being seen. But it's a cool moment even if it's a little silly. I also don't buy that the vampires would still have been groggy because Remmick was back in fighting shape.

The other thing is what I alluded to earlier. In this movie, as soon as the people turn, they're evil vampires. They have their memories, but immediately go about trying to kill their loved ones. But then at the end, Smoke (human) and Stack (vampire) are fighting, and Smoke comes out on top. Maybe I missed this, too, but all of a sudden, Stack drops his murderous demeanor and accepts his death. But later in the movie, we fast-forward decades and find out that Smoke spared Stack if he promised that he'd leave Sammie alone, and Stack keeps his word. I just didn't understand how he and his lady friend were able to flip that switch. Still, much like my other nitpick, it pays off in a very cool way.

Alright, that's the end of the spoilers. There's one more thing that I liked that I'd like to touch on. During the final fight, Sammie starts saying the Lord's Prayer because he knows he's toast. Remmick lets him go on for a bit before joining in with him, dropping the fake southern accent for his native Irish one. He mentioned how missionaries came to his village a long time ago, and did away with the group's local beliefs, introducing Christianity. While he's finishing up the prayer, Remmick tells Sammie that that particular prayer still brings him comfort sometimes. He likes Jesus but doesn't like Christians. As a Catholic myself, I get it, but it's interesting to think about how this vampire still prays to God and finds comfort in Him despite reveling in what it is and those missionaries destroying his culture. It's a small touch, but it adds another layer to the vampire, which is generally a one-dimensional villain.

This is a very cool movie. I loved the characters, the vampire is intimidating and unique enough that he stands out and the story is engaging and fun even before the monsters show up.

9 Dr. Chainsaws!