Don Shanahan
Combining box office success, nearly universal critical praise, and early awards buzz, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has been the movie of the year. Like the film prophetically warned, we danced with the devil, and he followed us home. To the delight of many who enjoyed that dance, the historical, musical, and fantastical horror film debuted on digital rental platforms in June and arrived on several physical media disc offerings on July 8th. Film Obsessive was granted an advance copy of the fine film on 4K-UHD from the studio for this disc review for our “Off the Shelf” series.
THE MOVIE
The endlessly charismatic Michael B. Jordan, plays the dual role of well-dressed twin brothers named Smoke and Stack in Sinners. They are returning to their native Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1932 after nearly a decade away as former World War I vets earning a reputation and hefty wallets as made men in Al Capone’s Chicago. Like a reverse of “The Great Migration,” Smoke and Stack left notoriety to bring their deepened pockets back to their people and open their juke joint nightspot. Their anointed right-hand man is their younger cousin Sammie Moore (newcomer Miles Caton), nicknamed “Preacher Boy.” Strumming chords on a dobro and armed with an untapped soulful voice, Sammie is also the twins’ fresh-faced talent they hope will bring the house down alongside the headlining musical services of Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo).
Naturally, the twins blowing back into town fan old flames as much as it kicks up dust. Each has a former lover they left behind. Smoke takes the time to rekindle his relationship with Annie (Loki‘s Wunmi Mosaku), the mojo-wielding mother of his deceased daughter. For Stack, it’s Mary, played by Hailee Steinfeld. She’s a rich white woman with familial ties jilted by grief and passion who won’t take no for an answer any longer. All of those relationship dynamics and event planning get turned on their ear in Sinners when vampires, led by Jack O’Connell’s Remmick, show up when the sun goes down.
Director Ryan Coogler has proven to be a mythmaker of the highest order in his career, imbuing his environments, characters, and tales with layer after layer of cohesive allegories, robust vitality, and a righteous sense of heritage. With the genre mashup of Sinners, he hasn’t just carved one myth. He chiseled three: a tome on the American Dream in the Jim Crow-era South, a cross-generational celebration of blues music, and a freshened take on vampires in cinema. Each is a monument in its own right, and no wave will erode them anytime soon. The ghastly fantasies and impactful fables concocted by Sinners have never looked and sounded this dashing, lustful, and audacious.
THE DISC
On the digital side, Sinners is available digitally at home on Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, and other platforms. For subscribers, it is streaming on Warner Bros.’s HBO Max service. The new disc is available to own on 4K-UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats with both standard packaging and Steelbook varieties. Matching its theatrical presentation, Sinners is presented with its expanded aspect ratio sequences, allowing consumers and collectors to see both 1.78:1 and 2.76:1 aspect ratios, as intended by Ryan Coogler for home viewing. On the sound side, Sinners arrives well-tuned with ATMOS TrueHD and Dolby Digital sound selections
Warner Bros. Pictures has not always been the best with special features and stylish disc presentation, and their usual plainness does creep in with their straightforward menus and sanitized production featurettes. Those cinephiles who favor the longer and more expansive mini-documentaries chronicling a film’s production will be disappointed. Nothing on this Sinners disc is longer than 33 minutes. Above everything else, the biggest omissions are commentary tracks. Ryan Coogler did one for Black Panther with Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler. Many hoped he would have one here on Sinners (maybe even chatting with his collaborating composer and college buddy Ludwig Göransson), but one was not requested or completed, which is a shame.
What is included on the Sinners 4K-UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD discs are the five short featurettes and a collection of seven deleted scenes which combine for a little over 18 minutes. Until a nicer treatment down the road, which is rarely ever the case with WB, this will have to do. Here are some notes on the included production pieces:
Dancing with the Devil: The Making of Sinners. This 32-minute chunk focuses on Ryan Coogler and his journey to make this personal film. He is joined by Michael B. Jordan and other key cast members to talk about the genesis and goals of the film. The setting of Mississippi dates back to Coogler’s uncle and his own introduction to blues music. The candidness is the best part of this featurette.
Thicker than Blood: Becoming the Smokestack Twins. One of the neat filmmaking tricks of Sinners is achieving the dual role of Michael B. Jordan playing identical twin brothers. A combination of makeup, costumes, and visual effects were used to make the Smokestack twins appear seamlessly on screen. This bit was fascinating, and a short ten minutes was not enough.
Blues in the Night: The Music of Sinners. The music of Sinners, from the performative songs to the rich instrumental score, is a tremendous part of the power of the film. Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson is the star figure of this special, and the man was a mad scientist when it came to the inspiration and creative processes for the Delta Blues music that fills the film. Like 10 minutes on pulling off the magic of twins with the same actor, 13 minutes on something as important as the music in this movie doesn’t feel like enough either.
Spirits in the Deep South. This 8-minute piece might be the one most appreciated to curious viewers who have examined and enjoyed the existential brushstrokes of Cooger’s film. Dr. Yvonne Chireau— Professor Emerita of Black Studies and Professor Emerita of Religion at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania—enlightens viewers on the background of Hoodoo beliefs prominent in the southern regions of the United States. Her primer on the traditions of protection and defense of evil and ancestors of the afterlife is a fascinating addition to this Sinners disc. Give Dr. Chireau a full half-hour TED Talk beyond this short lesson.
The Wages of Sin: The Creature FX of Sinners. Special effects makeup designer Mike Fontaine (Maestro) discusses the digital and practical tricks of the trade used to give a new look to the familiar tropes of vampires. Horror fans wanting to “know how the sausage is made” from buckets and pumps of fake blood spurting have gotten their treat with this one.
