There’s an ironic poetry in the fact that it took Ryan Coogler walking away from the MCU — and Marvel quietly shelving Blade — for a Coogler-made vampire film to just appear out of nowhere. And thank God it did, because Sinners is the early contender for best movie of the year. A Gothic Southern vampire tale layered with the legacy of Jim Crow and pulsing to the rhythm of the blues, Sinners is a soulful, thoughtful, sexy, funny, riveting piece of big-ish budget studio filmmaking that actually has something to say. And says it with bloody fanfare. It’s the rare work of a genuine auteur embracing genre thrills while coloring outside the lines of what is expected within that genre, enriching the narrative with real history, spirited music, and undeniable soul. The real thrill of Sinners is in how it balances traditional vampire movie pleasures with embedded deeper ideas, making them textual rather than ornamental. Read More