Little White Lies / 107

LWLies 107: The Sinners issue

 

There’s a confidence and raw power to the cinema of Ryan Coogler that is astonishing in and of itself. From creating Sundance headlines in 2013 with his feature debut, Fruitvale Station, he has shifted seamlessly into the leagues of high-end franchise filmmaking (Creed, a brace of Black Panther movies) without ever allowing a formidable personal touch to become dulled or diluted.

 

Sinners is a passion project that the writer-director tells us he has wanted to make for some time, seeing the complex and protracted shoot of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a good excuse to make something completely original and ripped from the heart. Inspired by the blues tunes played by Coogler’s own uncle, Sinners follows the twins Smoke (Michael B Jordan) and Stack (Michael B Jordan) as they return during Prohibition to their homestead of rural Mississippi from time away in Chicago to set up a juke joint and bring the party to the people.

 

 

However, malevolent outside forces begin to encroach, and a battle for the soul ensues. Coogler himself has described the film as one that hops playfully between genres, mixing musical, action and political elements into a potent supernatural base. We couldn’t help but be tickled by the fact that, when we spoke to Coogler about the film, he was sat in front of a giant poster for John Carpenter’s The Thing, which perhaps gives a few clues as to the paranoic, philosophically-laced thrilled that Sinners is.

 

As always, Little White Lies is a magazine focused on celebrating the craft of cinema and hearing from those who don’t often receive an equal share of the limelight. So we were thrilled to talk to a number of people whose work behind the camera gave so much richness and depth to Coogler’s grand, IMAX-filmed vision, which is out in cinemas globally on 18 April.

 

  

On the cover

 

For this issue, we had to jump on the chance to have twin cover stars, and we’re so proud of how our interlocking double covers have turned out, created by the Pittsburgh-based illustrator, Noa Denmon. The intricate cover portraits offer little secret hints as to the character arcs of Smoke and Stack and the ordeal they go through, and she captures the film’s tone of supernatural dread with aplomb.

 

Also in the issue we have incredible new illustration work from Olivia Twist, Iain Macarthur, Rachel Bruce, Snids, and Nick Taylor.

 

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Little White Lies launched in 2005 with the sole aim of creating a magazine that captures the excitement of talking about movies with good friends by bringing together impassioned, intelligent writing with striking illustration. Each issue of the magazine dedicates its entire front section to an upcoming theatrical release, drawing inspiration from the themes and visual tone of the carefully selected film. The back section features essential reviews of the latest movie releases, plus exclusive interviews, festival reports and more