By Ryan Coogler is a director whom you can trust. It’s not often that you see a director with a filmography that you can genuinely say doesn’t have a bad film in it, but Ryan Coogler is one of those directors. Sure, his last movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, may have had some bumps, but it’s by no means bad, and saying it’s his weakest film when compared to titles like Fruitvale Station, Creed, and the original Black Panther is no small feat. Now, Coogler’s latest film, Sinners, is looking to continue that line of quality.
I was always somewhat interested in Sinners, but it wasn’t until the early reviews started to come out that I took note of it. I’m always down for a horror movie, but when a horror movie is getting a prestigious treatment and is already being discussed for potential Oscar nominations in April, then it piques my interest. In fact, any movie that can get award season chatter started this early is worth a look in my eyes, but I’ll be especially critical of it if it’s a horror movie. What can I say? I like a good horror movie, and if Sinners touts how universally acclaimed it is, I wanted to see if I’ll be a contrarian or if I would be just as positive towards this music-inspired examination of art, legacy, and good ol’ Klan killing action.
Sinners
Director: Ryan Coogler
Rating: R
Release Date: April 18, 2025 (Theatrical)
Set in the Deep South during the Great Depression, the film follows the Smokestack Twins, both played by Coogler’s frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan. They’re gangsters trying to start up a juke joint after robbing gangsters in the North, and they’re aiming to get their club started immediately. Over the course of one day, we see Smoke, the more serious-minded brother, get the business side of things handled, while Stack, the more aloof and carefree brother, recruits musical talent. The two contend with their past romances, both good and bad, but everything gets turned upside down later that night. After hearing the club’s music, vampires begin to assault it, and the few remaining guests who haven’t been turned into part of the horde have to find some way to survive the night.
Right off the bat, there’s a three-dimensional nature to how Sinners presents its world. Every character feels like a person with a clear inner life and defined relationships. When Smoke and Stack are going about town doing their business, the people they meet aren’t stock characters with a singular gimmick. They’re individuals who have their complex backstories and histories that just get roped into what the twins are planning. The most notable side character is probably Sammie (Miles Caton), a young man working on a plantation who plays music much to the disapproval of his preacher father. Then there’s Stack’s former lover, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who clearly has a complex relationship with him, but she’s considered family to the twins and their loved ones. Even the most barebones supporting cast member feels well defined with their own motivations, wants, and needs, something that most horror movies can stand to learn from.
I know it seems weird to focus so much on character in a horror movie when, let’s be honest with ourselves here, we know what’s going to happen to them. When night falls and the vampires attack, most of them aren’t making it out alive. But this intense focus on characterization really does make each death feel meaningful and impactful. When we see one character give a heroic last stand to hold some of the vampires, it hits hard because we’ve gotten to know them fairly well over the day the film is set in.
Copyright: Warner Bros
That does come at a cost for the pacing of Sinners. While the second half of the movie truly feels alive with energy, the first half feels a bit slow. To be more accurate, I would actually call it deliberate. There isn’t a scene that feels extraneous, with the exception of the first scene, making the pacing feel methodical and purposeful. Cutting any of those scenes would hurt the second half of the movie, but the reality is that making it to that point isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. The film is only a little over two hours, but the first half feels like it drags on for a bit longer than it should.
I’ll admit, Sinners wasn’t clicking with me at first. I was appreciating the period piece drama and the respect the film had for jazz and music in general, but it wasn’t until we reached a particular musical number at roughly the halfway point that everything clicked into place. The random discussions on music as a transcendental experience and how it can bridge generations and cultures, quite literally, all come together in a wonderful scene done in a single take. The screen, which had a widescreen presentation (at least in the IMAX theater I saw it in) for standard scenes and dialogue, fully enveloped the entire picture as music and dance overtook every inch of it in an explosion of color and song. That single moment will probably be one of my favorite scenes of any movie this year, and it was by far the best part of the film.
For what it’s worth, for what criticisms I have towards Sinners, none of them are deal breakers. They’re minor grievances at best and probably won’t matter to most people. The only legitimate criticism I think a person can muster towards it is that most of the gore and vampiric chaos is reserved for the last third of the movie, so if you’re solely interested in that and only that, then yeah, Sinners will probably be a bit of a disappointment. But that’s missing the forest for the trees, because to fully appreciate the violence of the climax, you need to understand the moments leading up to it.
Copyright: Warner Bros
Vampires have fallen out of pop culture’s favor over recent years, with their representation (for the most part) being reduced considerably. For every Interview With A Vampire or What We Do In The Shadows, there seems to be at least five shitty Blumhouse movies that take up space. It’s so nice seeing a movie that not only gives vampiress their due, but also the respect that they deserve. The lore of vampires in Sinners is faithful, like their hatred of garlic, the avoidance of sunlight, and most importantly, the fact that vampires need to be invited in, which draws heavily from medieval folklore and the ideas that evil needs to be invited into one’s life/homes. Sure, the Smokestack twins aren’t good people, but they’re not evil. At least, not the same type of evil as the vampires. Those are the real monsters… right?
The film makes it a point to make a clear distinction between the myriad evils of the world. There’s the supernatural evil represented by the vampires, the man-made evil that embodies the KKK members that lumber around town, perceived evil, best embodied by how Sammie’s father hounds him to stop playing music and dedicate his life to the church, and necessary evils, like how the Smokestack twins use their dirty money to provide for the people of their community. Evil is a spectrum, and by the end, Sinners says that everyone has sinned in some way, but whether or not that prevents you from living your life is an entirely personal matter.
Some characters go on to live the rest of their lives content with the events of that night. Some do and may seem fine on the surface, but have deep regrets over what they did or how they did it. Others still just can’t and decide to handle their actions in the only way they can. For all of the issues I had with the first half of the movie, the ending of Sinners is fantastic and leaves you with a lot to think about, especially in its post-credits scene. Frankly, the post-credits scene is so fundamental to understanding the main ideas of the film and offers up necessary resolution that a part of me wonders why Coogler even framed it as being a potentially missable moment.
Copyright: Warner Bros
The longer that Sinners sits with me, the more I grow to like it. I appreciate what it’s attempting to do, and it’s so bold in its presentation that you can’t help but respect it. Everything about the movie comes together surprisingly well by the end, and even if the beginning was slightly rocky, the age-old adage of “it’s not how you start but how you finish” is true. Sinners is one of the few horror movies that both critics and audiences can agree is worth your time, and much like the growing horde of vampires that litter the Mississippi Delta, I’m just another voice in the growing chorus trying to convince you to give Sinners a try. I guarantee you, you won’t regret it.
