The Film That Brought Ryan Coogler Home
Ahead of the release of his latest film, 'Sinners', the gifted filmmaker shares why it's his most personal project to date.
“This is the most personal thing that I’ve made to date,” Ryan Coogler says, talking about Sinners, his American Gothic supernatural horror film set in 1930s Mississippi.
"My maternal grandfather is from Mississippi, and my Uncle James, who passed away while I was finishing up Creed, was also from Mississippi. I was fortunate enough to have a really close relationship with him, and the 'seed' of this movie started with that relationship," he elaborates, speaking warmly about how Uncle James would listen to blues music all the time. With Sinners, Coogler is attempting to not only showcase the Mississippi of his uncle’s stories but also dig into his ancestral history. "It’s been extremely rewarding," he shares.
The filmmaker has achieved enormous success from the very start - his feature debut, Fruitvale Station, won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, along with Best First Film at Cannes. What followed was Creed, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - not just blockbusters, but cultural moments. A return to the Mississippi of his roots, through the lens of horror, feels like a natural evolution for the 38-year-old who has a penchant for looking inwards, even as he continues to make long, progressive strides in his career.
"The first stories we ever told around fires were probably horror stories," says Coogler. This is, he agrees, a genre for popular consumers of film but also one "that comes up when we talk about great pieces of art in cinema". "I think that’s because it feels ancient. These feel like the first stories," he muses.
He’s also returning to a familiar face: his first leading man, Michael B. Jordan. In Sinners, Jordan plays a double role, that of twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown to escape trouble but instead end up running head-first into the devil. "I definitely found a kindred spirit in him," says Coogler about his frequent collaborator. "He’s somebody who is incredibly gifted. In some ways, it’s kind of God-given - his charisma and ability to channel empathy without even trying."
But what makes Jordan truly stand out, according to Coogler, is his work ethic, dedication to the craft and constant desire to push himself. "We started out as work friends and have become like family since," he adds warmly.
The Warner Bros. Pictures and Proximity Media production hits theatres tomorrow, but it's already received rave reviews. The Hollywood Reporter calls the genre-bending vampire horror "a succulent bite". On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a certified fresh rating of 97% based on 113 reviews. The Associated Press calls it "pulsating". Slate has already knighted it "one of the most distinctive, confident mainstream films of the modern era".
But for Coogler, the film is something quieter: "a reclamation of a time period and a place that my family doesn’t talk about much".
"There are a lot of feelings associated with our history there, you know? But we go there in full, and we show these people in full," he says.
And maybe, that’s exactly why Sinners works.