Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell
Have I Seen it Before: No.
Did I Like It: A review like this is more than a bit daunting. I love the movie so much that I get the distinct sense that I’ll be chewing* on parts of the movie for years to come. A simple review won’t be able to hold everything I want to say about it. An episode of <Beyond the Cabin in the Woods> won’t be able to cover everything I want to say about it.
Ryan Coogler hasn’t missed yet, and shows no signs of stopping now. He made a seventh movie in the Rocky franchise into something not just watchable, but essential. His biggest hit Black Panther (2018 demanded a sequel. Fate took away his star, which would spell disaster for lesser mortals, and he turned the whole affair into a meditation on grief at a time when big budget fair is positively allergic to anything resemble a theme.
Here, Coogler has made what is quite possibly the best vampire movie ever made. By equal turns startling, dread-inducing, and sexy**. His cast is perfect. One could make a case for Jordan being the MVP here, playing two roles, having them both be distinct characters, and managing to have chemistry with himself. But don’t turn on either Caton or O’Connell. Caton is either a born blues musician who also has tremendous screen presence, or one of the authentic screen acting finds of this century who can also play the blues like you wouldn’t imagine. O’Connell would be forgiven for playing a typical vampire villain role, but even he too has charisma and pathos (and not none musical talent) so that it is impossible to find the weak link in the chain. Not that I’m of a mind to go looking that hard.
This is about the length of a typical review, and there’s so much more I want to go into. The spiritual implications. The depiction of cultural appropriation. The sexiness, again***. But you know what? The review may never be able to contain it all. Come find me and talk to me about, I’m sure I’d love to chat.
*Pun accepted, if not entirely intended.
**To my mind, this might be the most pro-cunnilingus film since—no judgments—Gigli (2003).
***Really, it may be one of the sexiest films ever made, and that’s before the vampires show up and start to ruin everyone’s good time.