What’s a Meta For?

Grade: A+

The first scene strikes like a lick from a blues guitar. A seemingly badly wounded man with a scar on his face enters. From there, sex, booze, and blues saturate a bloody good tale in Sinners (2025). At the helm, Ryan Coogler sets up familiar fair and reminiscent tropes; fast talking twins, blues musicians, women shaking all they’ve got exude from the screen.

A burly white man literally lying through his teeth try to disrupt Michael B. Jordan, playing both roles of Smoke and Stack. He does so with aplomb. You can see Smoke’s determination and cool demeanor. Stack is more confrontational and in-your-face. He carries the film on his back.

At the same time, newcomer to the big screen, Miles Caton (Sammie) blows away everyone with his musical stylings. Speaking of which, the hoodoo is similar to the juba made popular by late great playwright August Wilson. Mr. Wilson, who would’ve turned eighty this year, didn’t go to theaters over thirty years ago, would most likely have paid his fare to view this modern day masterpiece.

Replete with allusions and yes, vampires, the film gets rather meta around the edges. It pits brother against brother and the Smoke/Stack situation; a prominent bluesman whom I will not name here shows up and steals the show. (And the show continues past some of the credits, by the way.)

The main metaphor, though, is the idea of black minds, black thoughts and expressions being commodified and monetized not for them but primarily for white money-seekers. A lot of talk about capitalism is ironic as very little of this story revolves around the government protecting property rights and individual rights in particular. It does however feature both black and white vampires.

These tropes find a fresh face that Stephenie Meyer might even admire. The vampires represent the record companies, the movie studios, and sports franchises among other entities who have ripped off black musicians and athletes and personnel over the decades.

What’s curious is how Coogler puts most of the blame on white folks but doesn’t spare the critical rod when showing black vampires, too. The film is a gem as it shows gore and brutality and also light and beauty. Just when you think you couldn't bear the blood, the audience also takes in the faith-based overtones and the passion of Jesus of Nazareth.

One of the most stirring scenes occurs when the various music forms from past, present, and future all coalesce into a pot of ancient African dance, jazz, rock, soul, R&B, hip hop, and twerking. This wondrous mélange of black bodies can conjure up in the mind of the viewer the range of power over sound and space that people of a darker hue have had for millenia up until now.

The film wins at this. Veteran actor Delroy Lindo (Delta Slim) depicts another OScar®-worthy performance as the drinking, harmonica and piano-playing elder statesman amongst the youngsters. For instance, Haliee Steinfeld didn’t even reach birth when Mr. Lindo had multiple screen credits to his name.

Miss Steinfeld relishes her role as the beguiling and intriguing Mary who has a multigenerational hold on Stack. The main thrust of the film, however, is the might of the blues music. At same time, an Irish jig surfaces and blues stretched out and repurposed into metal can be heard during some of the most harrowing sequences.

While Coogler and Co. take shots at whites, they never leave blacks off the hook. The director displays the underhanded behavior of people of color, too. He also reminds the audience of the plight of Indians who found civilization through trade.

While it would’ve been too cartoonish like Blacula (1972) or the contemplative but out of key Spike Lee Joint Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) based on Bill Gunn’s yarn, Coogler reaches for and touches on the black experience shown and heard through dance and music.

Tied up in all of this, the cast and crew have crafted something of worth and permanence. While there’s so much fuss about the economics, which are obviously important, what shines through is the art and commerce going hand-in-hand instead one being lopsided and the other looking for a greater money grab.

The ideas matter. They reflect what this country ought to be rooted in: reason, individualism, and capitalism. With all the talk about capitalism, the reality is that this film is about mercantilism. It is an aspect of capitalism but is just that, a facet. In reality, when art and commerce congeal, that is the best outcome for all parties. As Coogler has presented his “baby” (the first major film he wrote, produced, and directed), spectators can weigh their thoughts on Wunmi Mosaku’s formidable performance. Her quiet power is a boon to the bombastic elements of the film.

Other parts that seem meta include the very feature of Caton with his history of creating gospel and blues tunes in real life. Running in its blood (ahem) is the force of history and the grand irony of having people who were meant to be disposable and never thought about after their work had been completed. Now, with the thoughts of owning rights to works and publishing and master recording residuals circulating through the genres and cultures, it’s possible to see a transformative nature of not just wise but money smart people of color.

Coogler ought to be proud of this work. It is a compendium of centuries of human beings being used as chattel by the people in their tribes to slave runners from Europe and Asia. The idea of the Eastern continent brings the conversation to Grace Chow played by Li Jun Li. She embodies the character with a sincerity and a boldness that pierces through the mind like hot lead from one of Stack’s guns.

In all, the picture rests on the power of Ludwig Göransson’s score and the invited musicians on the soundtrack like Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. One of the best symbols is the guitar, often associated with white musicians. The bluesman or woman could rely on that guitar to show their very essence, their soul. In an era of violence for violence sake and the music only hyping it up, the gore never seems contrived and the notes always carry the scenes with a bloody elegance.

Objective observation:

• The scene with the gold four finger ring is reminiscent of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989).