It’s impossible to discuss the plot of Ryan Coogler’s new original thriller Sinners without digging into, at least, the specific entity that causes the conflict: vampires. Yes, this was made clear in the original announcement of the film’s production, it was made clear in the advertising (and not even remotely the biggest spoiler in the film’s final trailer), and yet, there still remains a shroud of secrecy with this film, as though it’s taboo to even talk any details until after everyone has seen it. This definitely helped the grassroots word-of-mouth, catipulting the film to the honor of “highest grossing opening weekend for an original film since the pandemic” with even more inevitable success to come. But what is most surprising about Sinners isn’t anything that can be spoiled by mere words, rather the experience of how it envelopes you into its haunting, alluring, historically-deep relationship with music and its cultural histories within America.

It begins as a tale of two twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, both played with movie-star prowess by Michael B. Jordan, who after years of working with the Chicago mob, put down enough cash to inherit a sawmill to be turned into a juke joint for the minority community. The film mostly takes course over one night, during a celebratory night of drinking, dancing, sex, and musical performances that literally bring the spirits of their ancestors together. Among the attendees are their cousin Sammie aka “Preacher Boy” (Miles Canton, miraculous in his first film performance), pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), singer Pearline (Jayme Lawson), Smoke’s wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), Chinese-born suppliers Grace and Bo (Li Jun Li and Yao), and the only white-appearing face in the crowd, Mary, Stack’s former-and-current flame (played by Hailee Steinfeld, allowing the actress to utilize her real-life 1/8th African-American ancestory).

This is the setup for the first hour of the film, filled with absorbing and dynamic Ultra Panavision cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw that allow the warm scenery and set-dressing to pop richly and cinematically. Coogler weaves in brilliantly the importance of music in the black community, and in one jaw-dropping sequence, collectively embraces centuries’ worth of cultural history together in a levitating fashion. One that undeniably will be what the film will be remembered most for and perhaps the most impressive piece of directing in Coogler’s career. His regular collaborator, Oscar-winner Ludwig Goransson concocts a dazzling and soulful soundtrack that is both operatic and experimental, untethered to one genre.

Then come the vampires, led by the devilish Jack O’Connell as Remmick, an Irish-born immigrant turned creature of the night that both preys on the crowd housed in Smoke and Stack’s venue for evil reasons, both also begging for community. The rule of vampires most respected being the act of “letting them in”, a permission that runs deep in the blood of the black community, who were constantly pushed out of spaces in early America pre-and-post abolition of slavery. The brilliance of having an Irish antagonist, who begins to pluck each guest over to his side as his own, to celebrate harmoniously together as their own clan, speaks to Coogler’s genius understanding of the similar situation Irish people and Blacks were placed into during America’s darkest time. Both discriminated and maltreated minorities of opposite color skin, fighting their way through to make a living in a country that preached prosperity.

Coogler infuses a library’s worth of cultural and metaphorical ideas into Sinners, each trying to fight for dominance amidst it’s 135 minute runtime. All of which hit brilliantly their points, though still feel a bit unwieldy in the greater narrative. Just when you think the story is over, the end credits force you to remain seated until the lights come up. Regardless of how balanced or unbalanced the script can feel, Coogler’s direction is a tour de force, leveling himself to being one of Hollywood’s most creative voices. Sinners is more than just a vampire movie, or a historical-fiction thriller, it’s a weaving of past and future, history and culture, through music and cinema.