The Sinners review – inept teen horror dead on arrival

A cultish clique of teenage bullies commit a sin against cinema’s first commandment to show, don’t tell

Several past-it tropes from 1990s and 00s teen horror films strut the corridors of high school once more in this debut by director Courtney Paige. In a devoutly Christian small town, local preacher’s daughter Grace Carver (Kaitlyn Bernard) rebels against her conservative community by wearing scarlet lipstick and conducting a strenuously titillating affair with her BFF (very Cruel Intentions). The actual scandal though is her cultish clique, the Sins (very The Craft), founded with six of her naughtiest classmates. The group is so named because each member is reputed to embody a different one of the seven cardinal vices. Flirtatious Grace is Lust, rich girl Katie is Greed and so on.

When “Pride”, AKA Aubrey (Brenna Llewellyn), is perceived to have transgressed their code – by recording her innermost thoughts in a leather-bound journal (very Mean Girls) – Grace and her acolytes commence a ruthless bullying campaign that culminates in Aubrey’s disappearance on the edge of the woods. The town’s well-meaning but bumbling sheriff, Fred Middleton (Aleks Paunovic), investigates (a nod to Scream’s Deputy Dewey), as a remorseful Grace scrambles to destroy any evidence of her involvement. Then the rest of the Sins start turning up dead, their corpses prettily accessorised with a single rose pressed between their lips.

That would be enough to keep most girls quiet, but not Aubrey, whose verbose beyond-the-grave narration commits many sins against cinema’s first commandment of “show, don’t tell”. There is also one of those dastardly villains who, once unmasked, can’t resist putting off an escape to lay out their entire warped plan in detail. Even with such lengthy explanation, the characters’ motivations and plot twist doesn’t make much sense. At least The Sinners’ sexy-schoolgirl-corpse aesthetic – part Twin Peaks, part Ariana Grande music video – is too ineptly executed to truly offend.

• Available from 22 February on digital platforms.

Contributor

Ellen E Jones

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Shadowland review – hopelessly inept Highlands horror
The antics of an evil creature on the loose in an abandoned military base are stymied by impenetrable storytelling

Leslie Felperin

23, Feb, 2021 @12:00 PM

Article image
Get Duked review – macabre rural teen horror-comedy
A group of youngsters stuck in the Scottish countryside become the hunted in Ninian Doff’s wacky mashup

Peter Bradshaw

19, Jun, 2019 @7:45 PM

Article image
Babyteeth review – teen illness drama earns its emotional impact
Eliza Scanlen and Ben Mendelsohn lead a terrific ensemble cast in Shannon Murphy’s classy debut about an unlikely high-school romance

Peter Bradshaw

12, Aug, 2020 @9:20 AM

Article image
‘We shot it in the murder capital of the world’ … how we made The Lost Boys
‘I had no interest in teen vampire films and turned it down five times. But Joel Schumacher promised I wouldn’t have to wear the makeup and teeth, or have to fly around. Of course, he lied’

Interviews by Ben Gilbert

01, Apr, 2024 @2:43 PM

Article image
Slalom review – abuse on the slopes in tense teen ski prodigy drama | Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
A French teen ski champion navigates sexual exploitation by her male coach in Charlène Favier’s difficult but impressive debut

Peter Bradshaw

09, Feb, 2021 @1:00 PM

Article image
Winter Flies review – teen tearaways ride their luck with a smile
Olmo Omerzu steers this Czech road movie gently, teasing wonderfully natural performances from his young leads

Phil Hoad

01, Feb, 2021 @1:00 PM

Article image
Fitting In review – rare biological condition gets thrown into typical teen movie mix
Writer-director Molly McGlynn’s own experience adds a new dimension to the usual tropes of virginity loss, relationships and high school politics

Catherine Bray

02, Sep, 2024 @10:00 AM

Article image
Friday the 13th review – original teen horror classic now looks bizarrely innocent
The film that kicked off the franchise sees swimsuit-clad young adults picked off one by one in gruesome fashion at the site of an unsolved double murder

Peter Bradshaw

12, Oct, 2023 @12:00 PM

Article image
Slash/Back review – teen bantz takes down bloodsucking aliens in Inuit horror
First-time film-maker Nyla Innuksuk deftly combines girl-gang swagger with The Thing-inspired gore in this engaging horror set in the snowy wilds of a remote Inuit hamlet

Phuong Le

15, Nov, 2022 @9:00 AM

Article image
The Craft: Legacy review – woke witchcraft sequel is smart but messy
A long-awaited follow-up to the much-loved 1996 teen horror offers some interesting ideas but, with a brisk runtime, feels overstuffed

Benjamin Lee

28, Oct, 2020 @4:00 AM