It's a vampire flick that spends a hour basically hiding and obscuring that fact. Eventually, it gets to a place where the supernatural phenomena is commenting on the racial issues of the American south during the Jim Crow era. AMC's Interview with the Vampire (2022) already tackled that topic. It did so in a dramatically more interesting way. This film has interesting dramatic things happening, but those things don't really have anything to do with its supernatural premise. It seems as if the initial idea was having the vampires be a metaphor or symbolic of the Ku Klux Klan. However, later, it seems as if the vampires become symbolic for liberation from racial discrimination or else a religious cult that purports such liberation and communistic love. Instead of bringing simple death and destruction from what are blood-thirsty or ravenous creatures, they're meant to bring some kind of harmony. Obviously, we have to assume knowledge going into this film that writer-director Ryan Coogler doesn't necessarily lay out. We have to assume knowledge of racism and bigotry against African Americans, as well as the abuses of the KKK. It's not totally assumed. A character played by Delroy Lindo later describes the abuses of the KKK but that doesn't become a factor for Lindo's character at all.
Assuming this knowledge is fine on an intellectual level of getting what Coogler was trying to accomplish here. I'm not sure it necessarily worked on an emotional level. At one point, Coogler attempts to seduce his characters with what the vampires are selling. In order for that to work, I would have to buy that the characters would in any way be open or susceptible to it, and I never bought that. I don't think he made an argument as to why the characters would ultimately be seduced into this vampire community. One would think that the first hour of this film would be dedicated to establishing why the main characters might want to become vampires or why being a vampire might be an advantage. Yet, that's not really the case. The case isn't made till late into the second hour and by then, it's rather too late and any attempt at seduction to the dark side is a waste of time. Coogler's film could have simply been an-end-to-end action flick of his protagonist taking out vampires, that could've been cool, but that's not quite the case here. It eventually does become a rip off of From Dusk till Dawn (1996). Yet, it takes longer to get to the central action.
Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther and Creed) stars as Elijah Moore aka "Smoke," a World War I veteran who is from Clarksdale, Mississippi, but who has been living in Chicago and he was apparently involved or had connections to Al Capone. Smoke basically became a gangster himself. Reportedly, Capone was a fan of jazz music, as well as other music from the Black community. At the beginning of this film, Smoke decides to leave Chicago and return to Clarksdale in order to open a juke joint and have Black musicians as the centerpiece. He decides to buy a barn which he plans to convert into a bar and dancehall. The owner of the barn is a White man who Smoke suspects is a member of the KKK, but the man denies it. However, Smoke demonstrates that he is an amazing sharpshooter and won't hesitate to shoot and kill anyone who offends him or does anything he doesn't like, including KKK members.
Jordan also plays Elias Moore aka "Stack," the twin brother to Smoke. He's identical, except that Stack has gold caps in his teeth and he prefers to wear a red or burgundy fedora. Smoke prefers a blue newsboy cap. Stack isn't as ruthless as his brother. Stack can be a bad-ass, but he's also more lighthearted and more relaxed. Stack was a gangster alongside his brother in Chicago, so he can fight and probably shoot as well, but fighting and shooting are probably not his first instincts, as opposed to his brother. When he lived in Chicago, he fell in love with a White woman, but he left her because he knew that it would be next to impossible for their interracial relationship.
Hailee Steinfeld (Bumblebee and True Grit) co-stars as Mary, the aforementioned White woman who Stack loved in Chicago. She clearly fell hard in love with him because she followed Stack all the way to Clarksdale. She identifies or passes for White, but it's revealed that her grandfather was half-Black. There seems to be a part of her that wants to connect with that aspect of herself. She doesn't seem to care about the danger that that could be bring. When they were all in Chicago, Stack and his brother seemed to have a relationship with Mary's mother, which further bonded her to them. She also seems to have connections to Clarksdale or some roots in Mississippi because she feels very comfortable strolling around alone. She also has a filthy mouth and doesn't have a problem cursing and talking about explicit sexual acts between her and Stack out in the open. It's an interesting source of comedy in the film.
One might assume that Stack's relationship with Mary would be the leverage to seduce the two of them into becoming vampires. In order for that to happen, there would have to be a scene where the vampires offer that as an option. However, the vampires aren't honest. They start off using tricks and lies in order to force the people into becoming vampires. It would also mean that this film would require more than one night to tell its story. Coogler decided to have this entire film take place in one night. This seems silly because the lead vampire seems like a smart guy, so why have it all go down in this one night? Why not wait? Or, if the lead vampire were so impatient, why not set the outside of the barn on fire and literally "smoke" out Smoke and the other people in the juke joint?
Jack O'Connell (Unbroken and 300: Rise of an Empire) also co-stars as Remmick, the lead vampire in question. When we first see him, he's running from Native Americans, specifically Choctaw men on horseback. He's doing so in the daytime or as the sun is setting but still brightness in the sky. If sunlight kills vampires, how was he able to run for so long in the daytime? He's able to hide in the home of KKK members who agree to shelter him from the Choctaw. Later that night, Remmick becomes attracted to Smoke and Stack's juke joint because of the music. We're told a legend that certain kind of music can attract demons like vampires and the music coming from one of the musicians in the juke joint attracts Remmick and he wants to turn that musician into a vampire.
Miles Caton in his feature debut plays Sammie Moore, the cousin to Smoke and Stack. He's also the son of the local preacher who has his own church. He dreams of being a blues musician. His father is against this idea because his father believes that the music will attract the devil or bring evil. His father ends up being correct, but, before Sammie meets the vampires, he wants to play his music. He possibly wants to run off to Chicago to do so. Yet, there's another blues musician named Delta Slim, played by Delroy Lindo (The Harder They Fall and Da 5 Bloods) who has been playing blues music for a long time, but when he plays, it doesn't attract demons or vampires. Sammie's music playing does attract those evil creatures. It's not exactly made clear why Sammie's music does so but Delta Slim's music doesn't.
Despite this, Coogler crafts a sequence where we see Sammie's music being magical and attracting the vampires that is probably one of the most amazing cinematic sequences to come along in a long while. The song played during that sequence is "I Lied to You," which should probably be on the short list for Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards. The sequence is seemingly a oner or one long continuous take where the camera circles the juke joint and as it does, we see music genres and styles from the past, present and future all combined on the dance-floor that rises to the literal house being brought down or that makes literal to the refrain of "The Roof Is On Fire."
Wunmi Mosaku (Loki and Lovecraft Country) plays Annie, a woman who owns or runs her own store, which doubles as a pharmacy and possible food market. She's also the ex-wife to Smoke. They don't say it but the two had a baby together that died. This probably contributed to the two of them breaking up. When he returns from Chicago, he goes to her to work at his juke joint as a cook. The two argue over their beliefs. Annie believes in magic, whereas as Smoke doesn't. When the vampires arrive, it's Annie who is the one that identifies the vampires and explains what they can and cannot do, as well as how to fight them. It's never presented to her, but she obviously would never get seduced by the vampires because she believes in the afterlife, such as Heaven, and wants to eventually go there in order to be reunited with her baby. It's also why Smoke could ultimately not be seduced either.
If anything, this film is about Smoke reckoning with the personal loss of his child, as well as the way his relationship with Annie ended. He mainly seems motivated by greed and making money as a ruthless businessman or becoming a gangster of sorts in Mississippi. Greed is apparently his sin. Smoke having a dead baby though can feel like contrived pathos for a guy who would otherwise be a cold-blooded killer. There's also some backstory about abuse within his family, particularly from his father, and Smoke having to protect his brother and feeling like he's in that protective role. There's also an element of how that role goes from protecting his brother to protecting his cousin Sammie.
Li Jun Li (Evil and Wu Assassins) rounds out the cast as Grace Chow, a woman who runs another store that's located in downtown Clarksdale. She runs the store along with her husband, Bo Chow, played by Yao (#LookAtMe). They're Chinese immigrants who help to provide Smoke with some of the stuff he needs to kick off his juke joint. They attend that night to make sure things go smoothly. The two have a teenage daughter together. Both Grace and Bo become trapped inside the juke joint once the vampires attack. However, Grace has to decide to stay inside the juke joint, which is safe because the vampires can't enter unless invited, or if she's going to leave in order to protect her daughter whom the vampires threaten to go after. It's an interesting dilemma. Given that Smoke lost a child, one would think Coogler would play that beat between Smoke and Grace, but that opportunity is basically missed.
Rated R for strong bloody violence, sexual content and language.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 17 mins.
In theaters.