Hellhound on My Trail

The genre-hopping phantasmagoria of Sinners

When I was asked to take part in a CBC Commotion panel about Ryan Coogler’s new film Sinners last week, I hadn’t really heard much about the flick before seeing it. I was a fan of Coogler’s previous work directing the Black Panther films but wouldn’t have considered him to be one of the great directors of this era. After watching Sinners last week, that has changed completely. With his fifth film, we’re witnessing the ascent of a singular talent.

I’m reluctant to say too much about the movie to allow for you to enjoy the surprise that I had when I watched it with absolutely no advanced knowledge. But mainly, it’s a story rooted in the Jim Crow South involving a Robert Johnson-like figure who is running from the devil rather than selling his soul to him. It stars Michael B. Jordan convincingly playing a pair of twin brothers named Smoke and Stack who have returned to Mississippi from Al Capone’s Chicago to open up a juke joint.

I’ve never seen a movie quite like this that touches on so many genres so seamlessly. Every frame ripples with passion for the craft of filmmaking. What it has to say about cultural appropriation needs to be heard. To call it a horror movie is much too limiting. It’s also a period drama, a western, an action movie, a musical, a Blaxploitation flick. Coogler takes huge risks that pay off again and again. He bounces between genres and does it all elegantly. He sticks the landing every time.

Photo by Jared Raab

It’s one of the greatest music films I’ve ever seen, accurately capturing the transcendent power of an epic live performance. Ludwig Göransson’s score is like a living creature, effortlessly referencing musical genres as a vivid form of commentary on the on-screen action. Sinners even features two musicians I’ve played shows with: Saul Williams as the preacher Jedidiah and fellow Edmontonian and July Talk singer Peter Dreimanis as a vampiric Klansman.

One scene in particular will be talked about for years to come. It highlights a philosophy that I have held about the interconnected nature of music for quite some time, illustrating it perfectly with a poetic bit of screen wizardry that I have since learned was choreographed and orchestrated as one continuous take. I’m an emotional person but I am rarely moved at the cinema. During this scene, I felt chills spreading through every nerve in my body as my eyes welled up with tears.

Sinners reminded me of the power of movies. They can surprise us, excite us, horrify us, make us think, challenge us. It seems to me that much of Hollywood might have forgotten what the medium is truly capable of. I’ve been disillusioned with big tent motion pictures in recent years. The glut of comic book movies and stale intellectual property being recycled for the umpteenth time have left me cold. What a joy it was to leave a theatre invigorated! Coogler’s passion for the craft is palpable. I saw echoes of Scorsese, Tarantino, Spike Lee and other titans during Sinners. But I was left with the exciting prospect that I was witnessing a student of the game join the ranks of his heroes in real time.

Check out Sinners at a theatre near you

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This weekend will be the final broadcasts of ISO Radio, as the folks who run it (my touring DJ Josephine and Mike) are moving to the UK. The community they cultivated with this internet radio station was so heartening to see in Toronto. It was one of my favourite things about living there. I’m DJing at 1 pm ET on Sunday April 27 and you can tune in and listen live at iso.fm

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~ You can find Cadence Weapon records, books and shirts here ~

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You can find me updating my playlists or hanging on Bluesky and Instagram. You can listen to my music on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp and you can get Cadence Weapon merchandise here. Read my monthly column in Hazlitt. Pick up your copy of Bedroom Rapper here and please rate it on Goodreads.