Sinners ★★★★★

I was super hyped for this film despite only seeing a few trailers, and I really wanted to go in as blind as possible. When I learned a good bit of this film was filmed for IMAX, I made sure to get tickets opening day to see it in the format, and I must say I was blown away at this movie. The film is set in the 1930s and follows twins (played both by Michael B. Jordan) and their cousin as they open a blues bar in their hometown after running from it due to past troubles. As they get the bar up and running, they find problems with an unspeakable evil that threatens their entire community. I won't reveal much more due to spoilers (I know the summary is shorter than usual) since I do want anyone who reads this to watch the movie as blind as possible. The one thing I will say is that this was not completely a horror film from start to finish. It was a mix between a blues musical and an adventure, and of course pure terror during certain parts as well. All of these themes are connected in the story, and music plus humanity are the main messages of the film. There are numerous scenes of community and culture being shown through the blues, and it was pure amazement to watch. In IMAX, the sound design for these musical scenes were loud and turned up to where you feel the beat and the characters emotions as they play their hearts out in the bar. The cinematography was amazing, and I was not expecting such beautiful shots (that also added to the theme as well) with great utilization of the limited IMAX scenes. The story and development between all the main characters was done well, and I loved the dialogue especially between the twin brothers and their cousin, as it added to the main messages of the movie (which I cannot say too much about due to spoilers, again sorry!) I also would like to point out the scene at the bar where music 'transcends time' (you'll know it when you see it) and the entire one-take is one of the most breath-taking and energy filled scenes I've seen in a while! It really makes you fall in love with the community the main characters are trying to protect in the second half, and that alone helped the film go from a 4-star film to a 5-star one thanks to that cinematography and sound design. While on the topic of design, the last thing I will mention are how the vampires looked, as most of their designs were done practically and it added to the blood bath and gruesome nature of the later half of the film, which was enjoyable to watch for sure in IMAX. I do recommend seeing the film in IMAX because of the 'filmed for IMAX' scenes (there are plenty) and the amazing sound design in the 12 channel audio system, and since this movie is music based it helps to see it like this. Overall, this was one of the best films I've seen in a long time and it deserves to be seen by everyone!