With his last two films being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, director Ryan Coogler returns to non-franchise filmmaking with Sinners, which also marks his first foray into horror. It tells the story of twins Stack and Smoke, - both played by recurrent Coogler collaborator Michael B. Jordan - who move back to Mississippi and start a juke joint for their hometown community.

Their cousin Sammie joins them rather than sticking with his pastor father. A talented bluesman, he evokes the story of Robert Johnson, the legendary musician who supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in order to master the blues, with dark forces soon gathering around them and the joint.

The events largely take place within twenty-four fateful hours - something Coogler is no stranger to doing, having employed the same structure for his directorial debut Fruitvale Station. While that is a small-budget feature focusing on police brutality and racism in modern America, Sinners is set in 1932, a time where black Americans were suppressed by Jim Crow laws and subjected to mass racial violence. Chicago, where Stack and Smoke worked before returning home, had one of the deadliest race riots during the Red Summer of 1919. “Better the Devil you know,” the brothers attest when asked why they moved back.

There is an irresistible synergy between Coogler and Jordan as creative partners, though having another actor as one of the brothers could have helped flesh them out individually more. Regardless, Jordan is a commanding presence whenever he is on screen and newcomer Miles Caton also giving a superb and understated turn as Sammie.

As Sammie’s aspirations suggest, music is a central component to the film. Ludwig Goransson’s score is the heartbeat, ruminating to the sound of Southern soul and blues. There’s a beautiful whirlwind dance sequence that tours the history of black music through Sammie’s powers followed by a rendition of Rocky Road to Dublin, led by Jack O’Connell’s snarling antagonist Remmick. All of which point to a deep understanding as to how intrinsic song is to these marginalised groups.

In a film packed with psychological horror potential, Sinners instead chooses to use terror to deliver majority of its scares. The creepier and more surrealist aspects of the story could have been further dug into, but the most frightening aspects are not always the supernatural ones.

It initially appears that Remmick is one of the many Ku Klux Klan members looking to hunt African Americans. He does meet actual Klan members but is not part of it himself. This is perhaps because he is Irish and could well be Catholic - another one of the KKK’s targets. They may inhabit an unearthly form of evil, but there is still a suggestion that it provides a sense of unity amid their potential shared subjugations, and that it may even be more beneficial to them.

But Sinners asks what true salvation looks like. The film offers a glimpse into everlasting life, espousing it as liberty from death, a fear which already pervades the black communities of the Deep South during this era. However, for some, death is the ultimate gateway to freedom and an endless life without God is not worth living.

Sinners can be seen on the Torch Theatre big screen on Wednesday 7 May at 7.30pm and Thursday 8 May at 7.20pm.