There are so many positive things to say about the wealth of creativity and merging of story lines in the spectacular new film, “Sinners,” directed and written by Ryan Coogler (the “Black Panther” series, the “Creed” series and “Fruitvale Station”). It merges themes of race, freedom, and family against a backdrop of blues music and vampires. There are quite a few storylines to keep track of, but somehow it all blends into a seamless wonder.

The movie begins with a voice-over narration detailing how music can be so powerful that it can breach the line between this world and other realms. Sammie aka Preacher Boy (Miles Caton, in a bravura performance) dazedly driving a convertible to an old church. He is bloodied and carries the neck of a guitar. He gets out and walks down the aisle to his father Jedidiah (Saul Williams), the Reverend, in the midst of a church service. Jed hugs his son and urges him to drop the guitar neck and repent.

Flash back to the previous day in 1932 Clarksdale, Mississippi. Sammie finishes picking his quota of cotton and goes home. His guitar is missing and he goes to the church. Jedidiah has the instrument and encourages Sammie to give it up.

Separately, twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) arrive at an abandoned sawmill. The owner, Hogwood (David Maldonado), arrives late. As they negotiate, weapons are displayed on both sides. Hogwood is warned to stay away.

The brothers want to open a juke joint. They are loaded with cash. While they worked in Chicago for the likes of Al Capone, the origin of the money remains murky. Both siblings had also fought in World War I.

They pick up their cousin Sammie with their guitar. They go to a hidden provisioned truck. Smoke goes one way and Stack and Sammie go the other. When Sammie sings and plays his guitar, it is simply amazing how talented he is.

Smoke goes to arrange help in setting up the juke joint from Bo Chow (Yao) and his wife Grace (Li Jun Li). In the process, he wounds two thieves and pays the Chows to doctor them up.

Stack and Sammie meet Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo, another standout performance) who plays the harmonica and the piano. He has a regular gig at another place but agrees to play at the juke joint instead for the high-quality liquor Stack gives him. Delta is skeptical about Sammie’s ability to play the blues due to his youth. Sammie is smitten by the lovely Pearline (Jayme Lawson).

The train stops and off comes Mary (Hailee Steinfeld). She has followed Stack, who abandoned her without a word. Her mother, who raised Smoke and Stack, has died. She is angry at the two brothers for not showing up at the funeral.

Smoke goes to a gravesite where his daughter, who died at a young age, is buried. Next to it is a home and shop run by Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), the mother of their dead child. She deals in the occult arts. Although she gave a protective talisman to Smoke, she could not save their daughter. She and Smoke make love.

Nearby a literally smoldering man (Jack O’Connell as Remmick) appears at the door of a couple asking for entrance. Who, or better said what, is he and what are his motives?

The movie’s love of blues music is clear throughout the film. The score by Ludwig Göransson (“Oppenheimer,” “Black Panther,” “Tenet”) adds so much to scenes where live music is not being played. Sometimes it feels languid and at other times frightening.

The grand centerpiece of the picture is when Sammie plays and sings at the juke joint. He breaks the barrier between worlds and times as foretold in the introduction. Soon musicians from the past in Asia and Africa are mixed in the building with an electric guitarist and a DJ. In its own way, its scope reminded me of those older movies with grand waltz scenes. But on the down side, Sammie’s music also attracts the vampires, who pose as Irish musicians, adding another dimension to the soundscape.

Miles Caton is a marvel as Sammie. His role is primarily subordinate to the twins, but he holds his own. His playing and his singing are incredible powerful. I read that he learned to play the resonator guitar for the film. It is worth seeing the movie just for his performance alone.

So I saw two characters played by Robert De Niro in “The Alto Knights.” So here is the same trope, now by Michael B. Jordan, a fantastic, under-rated (IMHO) actor. He deftly pulls off portraying the twins. His mid-credits scene as Stack is worth waiting for. The brothers are survivors and Jordan infuses them with a joie de vivre tempered by the bitter life experiences they have endured.

Overall, the acting is superb by the ensemble cast. Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku in particular warrant special mention. Lindo easily portrays the world-weary soul who drowns his sorrows in drink. His vibrancy adds so much to any scene he is in.

Mosaku also seems to be world-weary. Whether coping with Smoke’s absences or the death of her daughter, she holds her own with Michael B. Jordan. Her knowledge of the demons of the world comes in handy later in the picture. A totally believable performance.

The special effects for the vampires are quite good. The fangs are top-notch and the incineration of some of them was satisfyingly depicted. But what I loved about them is how they appealed to the African-Americans about how they could be truly free if they joined their egalitarian clan. That twist in thought would never have occurred to me. Their Irish songs are very well-done as well.

The movie takes its time getting to the violent and the supernatural scenes. But I was not bored by the pace of the storytelling. Basically the film is pre-juke joint and then the juke joint.

The depth of the imagination of Coogler in writing this script and story astounds me. It delves into multiple genres with such finesse that it is a masterwork. I left the theater feeling awed and stunned by what I had seen. This was augmented by the mid-credits and end-credit scenes.

The film is too slowly-paced and then too violent for children. Even tweens might be freaked out. But everyone else should go to see this superlative work.

Five out of five stars

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

“You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”

The night belongs to sinners.

Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Delroy Lindo
Written and directed by: Ryan Coogler