The night belongs to Sinners
From the director of Creed and Black Panther, Ryan Coogler, comes a terrifying new vision of fear in Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan as a duo of twin bothers looking to leave their troubles behind, returning to their hometown, only to discover a greater evil awaits them.
As the new trailer launches across the globe, The AU Review’s Peter Gray was invited to preview the footage and join director Coogler at a Q&A event, where he spoke about his latest film and detailed it as his most personal project yet. Here’s everything we learned.
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan: The Dynamic Duo
The fifth time working with Jordan, Coogler talked of their working relationship and friendship, and how it pushes him creatively.
“His control, his work ethic, his dedication to the craft, and the constant desire to push himself…it’s an incredible gift to have somebody like that who you can call up and say, I got a new one for you. He is always looking for new challenges constantly. He doesn’t want to rest on his laurels. And I thought this role would be something where we could challenge each other.”
Sinners is a deeply personal horror film
Talking of the film’s personal connection to his own history, Coogler mentioned his maternal grandfather and his late uncle as two of the core relationships he explored throughout the film.
“It wasn’t dissimilar to what I was doing with the Black Panther films. I had a chance to really go south and scout. I really had a chance to dig into my own ancestral history.”
He got advice from Christopher Nolan
Just casually dropping during the chat that he’s on a first name basis with the Oppenheimer director, Coogler earned some sound advice when it came to the IMAX cameras and Ultra Panavision cameras utilised throughout the shoot.
“We’re doing something that hasn’t been done before. Combining Ultra Panavision with the full frame IMAX film photography. It’s a pretty incredible contrast when you see them used together. It makes for an immersive experience.”
Salem’s Lot was sourced as an inspiration
Though he knows Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ has been adapted numerous times, Coogler expressed that the idea behind the story of a town influenced by a mythological force opened up a view for his own exploration for his first horror feature.
“I’m dealing with a lot of archetypes. I’m digging off pre-existing things in culture, but I’m synthesizing them through my own personal lens.”
He’s not the next Jordan Peele
When asked about his view on tackling the horror genre with his rich cultural background and if he sees himself as paving a way for a new style of horror storytelling, he’s happy to admit that Jordan Peele is still the master at changing the game.
“(Horror) is an important genre to cinema. I’m working in the same space as filmmakers I grew up looking to, but I can’t say I’m paving a new way because of all of these masters of the genre. They work in these spaces, and Sinners is a film of many genres.”
Music is its own character
Music has always proved an important and evocative ingredient in Coogler’s films. When asked how it was crafting both the score and soundtrack and how it dovetails into the sound design, the director spoke of how it’s something he’s constantly thinking about.
“The sound crew from Creed and Black Panther are returning on this. Sinners is very different. The musical element of this film is ever present. It’s a film about American music more than it’s about anything else.”
Sinners was made for the theatre
Before closing out, Coogler stressed that audiences can’t see Sinners in any other format other than inside the multiplex.
“This is what it was made for. It’s my love letter to the theatrical experience. It’s an experience that’s under threat. That’s why we shot on a large format. It’s a love letter to the experience of watching an exhilarating movie in a packed house, full of strangers, not knowing what’s going to happen next. So many incredible films have given me that feeling, and I wanted to try my hand at it. It’s me giving back to the audience.”
Sinners is screening in Australian theatres from April 17th, 2025.
