Ryan Coogler. He doesn’t miss. Shaping up to be the culture’s Christopher Nolan. He really houses an eye to put together a story told and visually portrayed in such captivating ways. Black vampire movie. Simple enough right. With just those words, how does that type or movie play out in your head? 1932 Mississippi. Jim Crow. Gangsters. Music. Mash all this up and pour it into the mind of Coogler and you get a great movie. Simply put. Coogler and Michael B. Jordan have become a powerful tandem in film. Fruitvale Station, Black Panther,
Creed Series and now Sinners. Got to shout out Adam Sandler for doing it first. Putting on the same cast members for multiple movies. Coogler and Jordan together are now a household name.

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Ok – movie time. Michael B. Jordan plays twin brothers Smoke and Stack, whom have returned home to
Mississippi from Chicago. They were also soldiers that been a lot of place, seen a lot of bad things and did a lot of bad things. Gangsters in the Chi, they came back to open up their own juke joint and thrive.
They made a name for themselves before they left so when it came to getting to business, they had no issues. I f someone dared to get in their way, they handle it without blinking. They purchase a old mill from a Klansman cash money and decided they want the juke spot open that night. So lets get to it. Smoke and Stack split up to cover more ground. Stack went recruiting and Smoke took care of Juke details.
Night falls and the Juke Joint is open for business. Sing, dance, drink and eat all night. The brothers have a cousin, a preacher’s son who is torn between his love for music and his father’s ways. He can play the
blues on his guitar like no other and has a heavenly voice. They type where you have no choice but to get enveloped in it. The party is jumping and here comes three strangers, white strangers looking to
have a good time with everyone. The twins come to the door and the vibes are off immediately. Vampires have to be invited in so they try and try but are denied. The tide changes when one of Stack’s
ex’s go out to see what the travelers are really about and her ass gets bit. Really played the typical scenario now that I think about it. The white girl goes to the danger and in turn causes danger. She’s the
catalyst who starts the fall of the juke community. Killing one who kills another and so on and so forth. A last stand was made but through fear and love, that wall was broken and the rest dwindled quickly.
VAMPIRES WIN!

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Now this is a very rudimentary recap of the movie. Done so purposely because it is worth watching. Let’s start with the cast. MBJ, we already go to but just to add a little more – he killed it.

Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim. Delroy been a staple in black lives, through movies, for decades now. Was very surprised to see him in here since it’s been a long time since I have seen him in anything. He didn’t disappoint one bit. His humor and seriousness. Great story telling and shows emotion well.

Omar Benson Miller as Cornbread. After Get Rich or Die Trying and 8 Mile, I didn’t see a promising career for Omar but he
landed on with this. Played the pivotal role in Smoke believing these people were vampires.

Li Jun Li as Grace Chow. She set it off for everyone haha she was not playing about her child and gave zero F’s about her life. Did what she needed to do to ensure the safety of her child. Also, she was so cool in the moment, very confident and comfortable around the others.

Hailee Steinfeld as Mary. She was a little boss B. Didn’t care about the racial divide and that ultimately was used as the reason the dominos started to fall. She was cool and in charge of herself with emotion and not with privilege. (Someone go check on Josh Allen)

Jack O’Connell as Remmick. I have seen a lot of vamp flicks in my day and I appreciate when they are all different. Jack did well, charismatic, charming, inviting, trusting, insightful, and overall look was perfect for a vampire.

Wunmi Wosaku as Annie. This lady right here had a lot of people going …. Boy if Smoke not gonna … lol Wunmi has had a great career in the last 5, taking on some good roles in TV and film. She was that voice of reason even. A voice needed to maintain a good line between good and evil.

Last but not least, Miles Canton as Sammie Moore. This 20 yr old break out start of the movie. His character was humble yet intrigued. Fearful but curious. His tone, his look HIS DAMN VOICE! Really, shout out to Ryan Coogler for brining him to the table. If Miles don’t have a hell of a career after this then something is wrong with the world! Seriously. He was perfect for the role and did a phenomenal job.

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Other aspects of the movie that made it great. Tying in the history of life in the delta in 1932. Li’s character’s family showed a true accurate portrait of life for Asians down there. They served both blacks and whites without problem. The side of superstition with Annie’s character. The contrast of country and city folk in Jim Crow south. The music aspect on the side of good and evil. Both having the same purpose but with different outcomes. So many nuances throughout it all. After all of that being said, I will say that the movie was CRAZY hyped. It was a great movie as I stated since the beginning of this post but I didn’t receive it like the media made it out to be. One major part of the movie I would have changed and is the main point I scaled it down to great. All in all a must see. I can’t wait to see what is next in Ryan Coogler’s bag and how this catapults Miles Canton career.