Every few years a movie comes along and gets swept up in to a wave of hype; fueled by social media posts, nominations, awards, articles, and box office numbers. Much of the time, those same movies fail to live up to the expectations that have been set for them. But contrarians beware: you can’t deny Sinners.

I was late to the Sinners train. Not only did I not get to see it in  IMAX, I didn’t get to see it in theaters at all. I heard initial rumblings that it was a fantastic film during its theatrical run. I sat back, not too pressed to watch it. Partially due to other movies I wanted to see more, partially because I didn’t know much about it. I sat back as the hype train gained steam. All of my friends watched, and in turn told me I needed to watch it. As the rumble grew to a roar, Sinners racked up record breaking nominations (most Oscar nominations for a single movie ever), and proceeded to win a large number of those, including four Oscars.

Still I didn’t see it. Looking back, I can’t even tell you why, but I can tell you how much I regret it. That was a dumb decision, and one that I’m not ever making again. Because I did eventually watch Sinners. And I went in to it with a cynical, pretentious mindset that a lot of people do when things like this happen of “I’m sure it’s good, but it can’t be THAT good.” I was wrong. It was that good. I am here to admit in front of all of you, I was wrong. Bookmark it, because I’ll probably never utter that statement again. I’m never wrong.

At its surface, Sinners is a horror movie about vampires. But beneath that surface, Sinners is a movie about time, religion, racism, success, life, death, and most of all, music. Throughout the film I learned a lot about all of these things. Mostly vampires. Apparently, vampires have to be invited into a premises before they are allowed to enter. Very cordial of them. The movie tackles a lot of themes eloquently within a run time of under two hours, an impressive feat for a story that could have lasted three or more hours. Furthermore, all of the events of the movie take place (roughly) in the span of one day.

A lot of things stuck out to me upon the first watch. The first being the cinematography. This is one of the only films I’ve ever seen that alternates between wide screen and full screen throughout the film. Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw uses these changes in landscape to accent important moments, or crucial changes in the story. The widescreen shots have an affect of darkening the mood, making the viewer focus and feel closer to the characters on screen. It was often used during important conversations, or scenes with several characters where dialogue was the focus one way or another. On the other hand, Arkapaw uses the full screen shots to showcase beautiful landscape, or chaotic action moments. The greatest frame transition in the movie happens during the climax, when the vampires are finally invited in to the juke joint. As the camera spins from the characters faces to the barn doors, we get a full screen shot of the hell that’s about to break loose. It ramps all of your emotions and anticipations up to ten, and makes it completely understandable that Arkapaw won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, the first woman to do so ever.

The next thing that jumped out at me was the message about religion. There are a lot of arguments about what the vampires in Sinners actually symbolize. Some say that they’re a metaphor for the KKK, some say they’re a metaphor for religious leaders, others say there’s not a metaphor at all, but they’re just vampires. And everything else in the movie is meant to be a metaphor or symbolic in some way. Religion is a back drop for a lot of what happens in this movie, and it’s a lingering force in who I view as the main character of the film, Sammie Moore a.k.a Preacher Boy. He’s at war with himself, and with his father, over his religion. In his song “I Lied To You,” he sings about lying to his father about wanting to choose religion over his music. There’s also a conversation between Smoke and Sammie about leaving music behind and choosing his religion, something Sammie says isn’t going to happen.

 It’s a battle that is important to the message of this movie for a few reasons. The first being the final battle with Remmick and Sammie where, when attempting to kill Sammie, Remmick repeatedly dunks his head under water while giving what is clearly meant to be a mimic to a sermon, giving hints to a spiritual “baptism.” While it may not mean the vampires are meant as a metaphor for religious leaders, it highlights the fact that the vampires give the same message, “in order to achieve eternal life, a part of you has to die.” The only thing that differs from them and most religions, is what part of you is dying.

The second reason this theme is important, is because it ties in to the opening, and penultimate scene in the movie where Sammie walks back in to his fathers church at the end of the night. In the scene, covered in blood, the only one left alive from the night prior, Sammie clutches the neck of his broken guitar while he weeps. His father hugs him and tells him to put down the guitar. Drop it, leave it behind, and choose religion. The problem is, Sammie sees the church and in the people in it, and realizes that choosing his religion, much like choosing to be a vampire, requires him to kill a part of himself that he’s not willing to let go of.

The final, and most important thing I noticed about Sinners, and ultimately what makes it a masterpiece, is the music in the movie. I am not just talking about the soundtrack or the score used throughout. I’m talking about every single word spoken on it, every theme built around it, every song played and sung and danced to. This is a movie about music, at its core. This is a movie that says something extremely important: for some people, music is their religion. Music is what they turn to when they need faith that things will get better. Music is what they worship. Music is what gives them their sense of community, and what inspires them to be better. It is a late night gathering of souls under the hymns of blues not gospel that becomes their church. Music to them is proof of an eternal afterlife. The knowledge that your soul may no longer physically inhabit a space or place in time but the music you create and the memories you make with all music is proof that you will live on forever.

The opening scene says as much and sets the tone clearly as to what this movie is about. The opening monologue tells the viewer, over a backdrop of what looks like cave paintings, “There are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true, it can pierce the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and the future. In ancient Ireland, they were called Filí. In Choctaw land, they called them Firekeepers. And in West Africa… they're called Griots. This gift can bring healing to their communities… but it also attracts evil.” Every single person I know that truly loves this movie, that rants and raves about it, has one thing in common: they truly love music. They love music more than they love film or television. They love it more than they love any other form of art, and whether they know it or not, it’s the music that ties them to Sinners the way that it does.

To me, the climax of this movie takes place roughly halfway through, when Sammie performs his blues song “I Lied To You” for the juke joint. This scene, in my mind, is what won Ryan Coogler Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars over everything else in this movie. It is unlike any scene I have ever seen in a movie in my life, and something that has left a lasting impression with me. As Sammie starts to play his song, he sings

“Something I’ve been wanting to tell you, for a long time.

It might hurt you, hope you don’t lose your mind.

See I was just a boy, about eight years old.

You threw me a bible on that Mississippi road.

See I love you papa, you did all you can do.

They say the truth hurts, so I lied to you.

Yes I lied to you, I love the blues.”

The scene starts as a melodic callback to Sammie’s battle with religion and music, it makes you bob your head. Its highlighted by Miles Caton’s rhythmic guitar playing and buttery smooth singing voice. It makes you want to move, and the precise moment you start to feel the music, you hear Delta Slim yell “move ya feet now!” with a timing that can only be intentional.

As the song progresses, we cut to arguably the most powerful piece of dialogue in the movie. The music comes to a lull, and Delta Slim is speaking to Sammie. What he tells him is the ribbon tied up on what I view to be the true messaging of Sinners. Laid out perfectly, and directly, almost looking directly at the camera. Slim says to Sammie, “Blues…wasn’t forced on us like that religion. No son, we brought this with us from home. It’s magic what we do. It’s sacred, and big.”  To me, this is the purpose of Sinners. This, above everything else, above all other themes and metaphors and allegories, is what Ryan Coogler made this movie to say. That yes, music and religion have a lot of similarities, they can go hand in hand, or they can be at war with one another. But with music, that power you feel comes from us. The people that create it, the people that share it, the people that spread it, and the people that consume it. In music, there is no singular God, and there is no singular religion or belief. It’s ever changing, evolving, and growing. All are welcome in the house of blues.

Ultimately, this is what brings Remmick to the barn in the first place. He says it to Sammie, more than once. Remmick wants his voice, he wants his stories. It’s a hint that the vampires are a metaphor for everyone throughout history that have built their successes and have achieved greatness off the backs of black men and women around the world. They’re a metaphor for every slave owner, record executive, and culture vulture to ever exist. The irony of those people and of Remmick is no matter what they do, they can’t have what they want. He can’t have Sammie’s voice or Sammie’s stories, because Sammie brought them from home.

After Slim’s monologue, the scene cuts back to everyone in the joint dancing to Sammie’s song as the movies opening monologue plays again. At the point where Annie says “conjuring up spirits from the past and the future.” A man with an electric guitar starts playing next to Sammie. As the camera pans around the bar, the audience is teleported through time and culture with the sounds and scenes of countless eras of music. Conjuring up spirits from the past and the future. From 1930’s blues to 80’s electric sounds, from ancient drums and shakers to DJ’s on a turn table and break dancing. Coogler is taking the audience on a journey through time and sending the message that throughout all of this music has endured, in many different forms, and it will continue to endure for all of eternity. As a movie lover second, and a music lover first, it’s arguably the greatest single scene I have seen in a movie in years, and it’s a testament to the piece of art Sinners is.

I wanted to believe that Sinners wasn’t as good as people were saying. I don’t know why, but it was just something in me that refused to give in to the hype. But it’s a movie that’s impossible to ignore or deny. It’s a powerful statement. It’s exciting, it’s happy, it’s depressing, it’s powerful, and it’s menacing. It’s unlike any horror movie I’ve seen, and it leaves an affect like none other. There are no others in this class, Sinners truly stands alone. And if you’re like me and you haven’t seen it, and you’re not compelled to, I urge you to give in. Give it a shot. It’s rare to get a movie that can move you the way this one does, and it delivers. It lives up to the hype, ten times over.

Art is subjective. Someone who hates Sinners has just as much of a right to that opinion as I do to mine. But to me, the thought of finding much of anything to dislike about this movie seems like a reach, and feels like it may not be based in good faith. I think what Ryan Coogler and the entire cast and crew has created with this movie is something special. It is a movie that explores so much in such a short span of time. It’s a movie that leaves you thinking days after you watch it, until you can get back and watch it again. It makes you contemplate hard questions like “where does my faith lie,” “what is my religion,” and “would I know if a vampire tried to get invited in to my house and not let them in or would I be oblivious and get bit by said vampire?” I don’t think there is any art form that will ever stand the test of time as well as music, but I think Sinners makes the case that maybe, just maybe, it can be film too.