**This review contains spoilers**

I had zero intentions of seeing this movie. All I really knew was that it was a horror movie and that was enough for me to not want to see it. I don’t do horror. But from the second it came out, it was all anyone could talk about. The reviews were great, the box office was soaring, and the internet was completely abuzz. So as someone who suffers from cultural FOMO, I decided I had to face my fears and check it out. Sinners is the fifth film from director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther) and is his first wholly original story. It’s a big, showy, studio blockbuster that is also layered with complex ideas and themes. It’s the kind of rich text that takes time to process for days after leaving the theater. In the best way. Coogler’s deep passion and care for all aspects of the movie are ever present. Just take a look at the video he made with Kodak explaining the different formats the film would be screened in that ended up going viral on social media. Sinners is a totally unique experience and impressively made movie that stands out as original in a world of remakes, reboots, sequels, and prequels.

Sinners is described as a blues-steeped thriller about vampires descending on a small Southern town in the 1930s. It takes place over one day and night in the rural town of Clarksdale, Mississippi, centering on the Smokestack twins, Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan). They’re World War I veterans who went on to work for Al Capone in Chicago and, after honing their underworld skills, they’ve returned home to the Mississippi Delta to open their own juke joint. They enlist their young cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), the son of a preacher who yearns to become a blues musician, for the evening’s entertainment, as well as a cast of local characters to work the party. Their revelry turns deadly when some uninvited guests appear. The Mississippi Delta (the cultural and geographical region of northwest Mississippi, encompassing portions of Arkansas and Louisiana, situated between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers) isn’t just a setting for the story in name. It is deeply important to the context and culture of the film. 1932 was only 67 years after the official end of slavery in the United States, but the majority of Black residents in the area were still sharecroppers working on cotton plantations. Jim Crow laws were in effect. The KKK was active (not that that’s different from today but that’s another story). Sinners shows us all different sides of the Black experience in this time, but it also takes care to include other minorities whose experiences are inextricably tied to the Black community in the area but are not often spotlighted. Chinese couple Bo (Yao) and Grace (Li Jun Li) are shop owners who play a key role in the story. At first, it is striking to see Chinese characters who speak with a heavy Southern twang. But Ryan Coogler really did his homework and highlighted the importance of Chinese immigrants in the Mississippi Delta zone (see this post for more on this!). Despite all the hardships, the movie never wallows in pain or trauma. They are facts of life. But culture still thrives. There’s love and joy and music and entertainment and fun. Sinners isn’t an exclusionary story. It’s about the search for love and belonging in everyone.

The thing with vampires is that they need to be invited in. Seems like there would be an easy solution for that: stay inside until morning when the vampires will be burned by the sun. So then where’s the plot? Well, the film finds interesting ways to work around that. The vampires in Sinners use temptation as a weapon. They try to lure the remaining living characters to join them. To convince them life (or death) is better on their side. The leader of the pack, Remmick (played by Jack O’Connell), has two main selling points to offer: freedom and community. They’re not really free, he tells them. Slavery might be over, but that doesn’t make them free. Not in 1932 Mississippi. Even the twins’ juke joint, which was meant to be a safe space for Black people to feel liberated, was built on a lie: the white man who sold them the building is actually a Klan member setting a trap to come back and kill them all the next day. But Remmick and his group promise real freedom. Freedom from pain, from death, from society. The irony is that this assurance is contradictory to their other pitch: community. In Sinners vampire lore, the vampires all share a hive mind, a collective consciousness. Once someone is turned, everyone in the group has access to all of their thoughts and memories and vice versa. They become one shared being committed to a common goal: growing their cult. Remmick is often heard preaching the mantra of “fellowship and love”, then echoed by his followers. It’s an appealing offer to the outcasts of society. But does it actually equal freedom? Where the juke joint was a celebration of culture, the vampires are black hole. All individuality is lost. Black American and Chinese American culture become indistinguishable from the Irish culture Remmick brings to the mix. Remmick himself was a victim of oppression, coming from an Ireland under British colonialism. But now he’s gone from oppressed to oppressor. A scene where the newly turned vampires dance in a circle around Remmick as he sings “Wild Mountain Thyme” and does an Irish jig is especially unsettling because of how wrong it looks. They’re not free, they’re trapped in an unbreakable spell. To join them would be to surrender all freedom, identity, and culture and become part of the void. It is quite literally dehumanizing as they are no longer human. The vampires are just another kind of clan trying to suppress Black culture in the Jim Crow South. 

A major piece of culture is music. Music is all over the film. Mostly the blues. Blues music originated in the Deep South in the late 19th century. It expressed the struggles, hopes, and emotional resilience of Black communities facing oppression and hardship, becoming a form of resistance and making it a perfect companion for this film. We see music displayed in many ways. Sammie performs as well as Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim, Jayme Lawson as Pearline, Remmick with his Irish folk song and also as a traveling trio with Bert (Peter Dreimanis) and Joan (Lola Kirke). The film begins with a voiceover that tells us, “There are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true, it can pierce the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and the future.” Sure, this is a mythical idea, but that doesn’t mean that the feeling isn’t real. Being in the presence of immense talent can often feel otherworldly. In the most audacious scene in the movie, Sammie gives a performance that not only burns the place down (kind of literally), but actually conjures those very spirits. Dancers and musicians from across space, time, and genres appear in the club. We see traditional African dances, Geisha performances, Irish step dancing, Rock and Roll, Hip-Hop, and Rap all represented. The scene crescendos in a metaphorical fire that burns the joint to the ground and the flames surround the ongoing revelry. Experiencing this moment for the first time in theater was awe-inspiring. Jaw-dropping. Full body chills. I’ve truly never seen anything like it in a movie and it’s an enormous swing that pays off. But maybe the most chilling thing about it is the way the scene ends. The opening quote culminates with, “This gift can bring healing to their communities, but it also attracts evil.” Sammie’s music brings momentary liberation to the patrons of the club, but also calls out like a siren to Remmick. The fire gives the vampires a peek inside the juke joint and points them to their next target: Sammie. Music is the ultimate connector. Remmick wants Sammie’s gift to be part of his consciousness through the hive mind. Sammie’s mythological reach into the past and present could help Remmick reconnect with his true culture, the Ireland he left centuries ago. Even within his cult, he seeks community. And music can provide that. Remmick tells the remaining humans that they only want Sammie and they’ll let the rest of them live. Delta Slim steps forward and says, “He belongs to us. He belongs with us.” Sammie plays the blues. He represents Black culture. His music isn’t for Remmick, it’s not for the vampires, it’s not for anyone else. And they will fight to the death to protect that. This commentary applies to the much larger idea of white people “stealing” or appropriating Black music and culture. The film’s score is by Ludwig Göransson who has worked on all of Coogler’s films and most recently won the Oscar for Best Original Score for Oppenheimer. For a film that has music so central to its core, nailing the score is a top priority. They definitely achieved it. The score blends blues, gospel, and metal to create a thrilling, haunting, and electrifying experience that evokes the film’s 1930s Mississippi setting while infusing it with modern, supernatural intensity. In other words, it absolutely slaps.

The weight of all of these ideas rests on the shoulders of our cast of characters. Michael B. Jordan has also been in all five of Coogler’s films and takes on the dual role here of twins Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack”. While Jordan doesn’t give the film’s greatest performance, he is impressively able to portray the twins with their own distinct personalities and mannerisms. Jack O’Connell makes Remmick a perfectly sinister villain who is both creepy and intriguing. The real standout for me was newcomer Miles Caton as Sammie. Miles is a 20-year-old R&B singer who previously worked as a background vocalist on tour with H.E.R. Sinners is his first acting role and he learned to play guitar for the part. The first time Sammie opens his mouth to speak my jaw dropped. His voice is so unexpectedly deep and rich. It contrasts his quiet nature. But when he starts to perform, it all makes sense. The confidence and the swagger of his voice transform him into a star. A sight to be seen. His performance in the juke joint dance sequence blew me away. But he is also able to bring emotionality and depth to his acting. Sammie is the beating heart of the film. The women also play a big role in the story and all of the performances were amazing. Hailee Steinfeld as Stack’s love interest, Mary, was incredible. I don’t think she’s ever been bad in anything but I’ve never seen her like this. Wunmi Mosaku as Smoke’s love interest, Annie, and Li Jun Li as Grace were both so moving and strong. 

I’m so glad I made the decision to see Sinners. Twice actually. And, to be honest, I didn’t find it that scary. I’m not saying that to sound brave or anything. I’m the first to admit I’m scared of everything. Horror movies are especially high on that list. But while Sinners does have some horror elements, that’s not really what it’s about. It could be a fun, popcorn movie with good music, a little action, and the occasional momentary scares. Or you could dig deeper and try to pull apart the complexly entwined layers of ideas. Either way, you are going to get a film that looks and sounds incredible with performances that jump off the screen and something you haven’t seen before. How many films can be described as bluesy, surreal, cinematic, sexy, sultry, haunting, celebratory, and gritty all in one? It also contains a post-credits scene that isn’t just for laughs or setting up the future of a franchise but is actually vital to the story (and includes a cameo from a certified blues legend). This is the kind of original story we have all been wanting and asking for. A unique vision executed to perfection. I hope the success of the film encourages more creators to follow the Ryan Coogler playbook and bet on themselves with their original ideas. (Coogler also made an unprecedented agreement with the studio that will see the copyright of the film revert to him after 25 years, giving him, instead of Warner Bros., the rights to his own IP.) I highly recommend checking out Sinners. Watch it with the lights off, phones down, and no distractions. Immerse yourself in the world of the movie and enjoy!

2025 Count: 31 movies, 21 seasons of television, 3 specials