It’s valid to question why each week seems to bring the release of at least one horror movie and to wonder what that says about contemporary society. But it’s shortsighted to assume all of these films are the same old slash-and-gash and to dismiss them across the board as without artistic merit. The revulsion that anyone might feel at the sight of gore and mutilation is almost the point of the more laudable examples of horror, since the presence of evil and violence has always been an ugly aspect of humanity.
Unless human nature somehow changes, it could be a public service to craftily depict the darkness — even in a graphic way — as a cautionary lesson that reveals and derides our worst selves. If the implicit warning is packaged as a shrewd, pulse-spiking diversion, it increases the likelihood of reaching a wide audience with the message. That’s how Sinners and The Ugly Stepsister function. Despite examining acts of cruelty and subsequent vengeance in radically different milieus, they’re movies that share a seriousness of purpose behind their respective Grand Guignol-style blowouts.
‘Sinners’
With healthy box-office numbers that are living up to its status as one of the most exciting feature films of the year, Sinners is the latest from screenwriter-director Ryan Coogler — the Oakland, Calif., native whose career was kick-started in 2013 by the tragic, passion-fueled indie docudrama Fruitvale Station. Coogler leveraged the justifiable acclaim he received for Fruitvale Station to become a de facto blockbuster wrangler, overseeing three massive, studio-financed smashes: Black Panther and Wakanda Forever, both essential to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for Marvel/Disney, and the boxing drama Creed, a sequel to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky series, for MGM and Warner Bros. With that track record, Coogler was able to make his own potential franchise-starter, Sinners.
A sprawling, racially charged vampire movie set in the Depression-era South, the R-rated Sinners comes complete with memorable characters, loads of infectious country blues, and copious blood-letting. Supernatural horror — visualized with imaginative flair — was never so spectacular and deeply soulful. It all goes down in Clarksdale, Miss., where twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who dabbled in criminal enterprises in Chicago, have come home to open up a raucous juke joint on the outskirts of town. Little do they know that the bearer of an ancient, sinister power is lurking in the area and awaiting the setting sun to possess a local lad with musical skill so magical that it can cut through time and space. Meanwhile, the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan — pretty horrifying in and of itself — has plans to visit destruction on the twins and their new enterprise, including any customers that happen to be present.
The cast is uniformly superb, led by frequent Coogler collaborator Michael B. Jordan who was the lead in Fruitvale Station and Creed and a villain in Black Panther. Jordan takes on double-duty in Sinners, playing the twins via digital technology that has continued to grow in capability, leaving no doubt that you’re watching two distinct men interacting with one another in scene after scene. You also get a stunning, earthy, thoroughly adult performance from former kid actress Hailee Steinfeld as Mary, another onetime Clarksdale native who has returned to town and has eyes to resume a relationship with one of the brothers; a deeply sensitive turn by Wunmi Mosaku as Annie, the other brother’s ex who is still dealing with a tragedy from their shared past; the venerable Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim, whose heavy drinking doesn’t stop him from being a badass; Jack O’ Connell as a very shady white guy who really needs the shade; and newcomer Miles Caton as preacher’s son Sammie Moore whose robust vocals and expertise on the guitar are positively transcendent.
Sinners is a broadside against bigotry — the conflict between vampires and humans serving as an effective metaphor for racial strife.
Sinners nearly explodes off the screen. For all of its splatter, its horror is not designed to simply frighten you or turn your stomach, even if it can and does. It’s a broadside against bigotry — the conflict between vampires and humans serving as an effective metaphor for racial strife. And its musical component is as rich and tuneful as it is reflective of African-American culture. Although Coogler is still on the ascent in his filmmaking career, it’s fair to say that he’s one of the best of his generation, with Sinners providing conclusive evidence. His contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe were phenomenal, and if the quality and success of his most recent effort is any indication, get ready for the Coogler Sinner-matic Universe.
Sinners is currently showing in Bay Area theaters.
‘The Ugly Stepsister’
Norwegian director and screenwriter Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister is a bracing mix of fantasy, social satire, and horror that puts a shocking, wonderfully clever twist on the fairy tale Cinderella, taking the perspective of the lovely but callously maligned heroine’s stepsisters. There’s more context than we’ve seen in earlier versions of the story, as Blichfeldt keeps focus on the circumstances of Elvira (Lea Myren), the homely girl of the title who dreams of being beautiful and desired; her reticent younger sister Alma (Flo Fagerli) who quietly observes the household discord as it intensifies; and their ambitious, widowed mother (Ane Dahl Torp) who has married a seemingly well-to-do widower. Upon the death of the widower, the family fortunes take a hit. In response to the news of their financial shortfall, Mom enrolls her eldest in etiquette and dance lessons and pays for gruesome medical procedures to turn the ridiculed Elvira into a young lady who will catch the eye of the local prince at a lavish ball where he plans to choose a wife. Presumably, money will no longer be a problem if Elvira marries the prince.
The Ugly Stepsister has organic reasons for the abuse of the widower’s daughter Agnes (Thea-Sofie Loch Næss) that gets saddled with the nickname “Cinderella” and is more of a supporting character here. For all of the mistreatment of Agnes, she’s not beyond reproach, nor is Elvira truly a bad person, Ultimately, Blichfeldt’s version of the fable is about the lengths women will take — no matter how extreme — to live up to society’s unrealistic, often whimsical standards of beauty and earn the approval of those they covet. This elegantly shot movie is at times bleak, disturbing, and funny, yet it’s also sympathetic to the plight of poor Elvira, magnificently played by Myren with remarkable comic timing and poignancy. As portrayed here, Elvira is a laughing stock who yearns to be more and thus goes through a transformation that literally poisons her. Is it a case of “happily never after?” That sounds about right.
The Ugly Stepsister is currently showing in select theaters. It will be available for streaming on Shudder and can be rented or purchased via other platforms including Apple TV and Amazon Prime on May 9.
