What burns in “Sinners,” and what survives

Ahead of the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night, Ekemini Ekpo explores the role architecture plays in “Sinners,” the single most nominated film in Oscar history. This follows earlier Punch List essays on “Architecton,” A24’s lengthy ode to concrete (really!), and “After the Hunt,” which did and didn’t take place at Yale. Here’s Ekemini:

I—The Before

“Sinners” sketches out a version of African American life underscored by the echoes of slavery and punctuated by the blues. In such a world, all roads lead to the “Club Juke” juke joint—also known as “the old sawmill.”