Art, music, culture, religion and history. The 2025 period-action-horror film, “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler, houses these descriptors meticulously. With a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, this educational film has certainly reached the hearts of many. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku, Coogler takes the depiction of black history in the Deep South during the 1930s to a level unseen before. Not only did Coogler highlight the grief in black communities, he took the time to demonstrate the web of torment colonialism had on communities outside of the white population in the 30’s. Leaving the theater didn’t just leave me in tears but with the desire to dissect every detail, Coogler gave with great intent.
Bloodied and dazed, we are introduced to Sammie (Miles Caton’s debut role) limping towards the altar where his father stands mid-sermon. Strings popped on his battered guitar, and he stood in contrast to the all-white surroundings. It was a purposeful decision to show the character being an outlier to his community due to his love of music. His father compels him through God to leave behind the guitar and, in other words, sin, until we are left wondering why Sammie stumbled with fear before we are thrown into the near past and introduced to Sammie’s cousins, Smoke and Stack, and their attempt to start a juke joint. Compelling and charismatic, the twins, mirroring the Ìbejì, twin deities from Yoruba Orisha spirituality, as Coogler mentions, bring African mythology into a world where Christianity is forced upon African-Americans.
The brothers tell a tale of tragedy and love. The SmokeStack twins, as they are dubbed, claw their way up the ladder of power. After fighting in WWI, the twins worked for Al Capone, and it is implied that they have Irish and Italian gang connections during this time before returning home to Mississippi to open a black owned Juke Joint. Their connection is a plot point to the very last moment of the film, in a moment where the audience can truly understand that Smoke cannot live without Stack, he tries to roll a cigarette but ultimately fails. Smoke can’t be “Smoke” without Stack.
Sammie lives to sing the blues. His singing is spiritual, so much so that it can conjure the souls of his ancestors from the past and the future. Despite its spiritual roots, his father, who runs the church on their plantation, deems the music sinful. Sammie’s father rejects the blues in favor of the church, which can be interpreted as his rejection of culture and history in favor of a religion forced upon them.
But the viewer isn’t just introduced to the enforcement of Christianity on African-Americans. Hoodoo is a system of folk magic created by enslaved African-Americans, heavily rooted in spirituality and the use of spiritual herbs. Represented by Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), a perceived Hoodoo Priestess, who may be in the spirit of the Ghulla people who resided in the Mississippi Delta. She offered herbs and medicines to children and protected her loved ones with “mojo bags.” More importantly, because of her knowledge of the supernatural, she can recognize and prepare for the vampires.
It is important to note that this film is period action before horror, aiming to pull at your heartstrings rather than send you home scared of the dark. The horror aspect of the film uses the popular but loved trope of vampires, but with a more historical and sinister atmosphere. The main antagonist, Remmick (played by Jack O’Connor), is an Irish American immigrant consumed by the terror colonialism had on him and his ancestors. Coogler pays homage to Irish dancing and music, strengthening music’s role on a person impacted by colonialism. Remmick plays the metaphorical role of the devil, enticing the people around him with sin in exchange for freedom from what he deems a shared trauma between him and the underrepresented communities. Despite his voicing of peace, unity and music, he uses the devices of white privilege to evade what the twins and their family cannot. Though he is an immigrant marked by the “devil,” he is still a white man in the South. This is not the only way Coogler utilizes the divide between immigrants not of African descent. We are introduced to Chinese-American immigrants, Bo and his wife Grace, who run shops on both the black and white sides of the town, who, from the beginning, take advantage of the fact that they are seen as a “middle ground.” In doing this, the audience is not only given an example of the impact Chinese-Americans had in the south, but also just how divided African-Americans were from everyone else.
It’s a slow-paced movie; one may walk in expecting vampires to jump out immediately. H, however, this pulls the viewer in. The build-up from southern blues to bloodthirsty monsters is not something one can move into easily, so Coogler didn’t. Instead, he incorporated the two. Music is embodied not just to bring life to the scenes, but as a vital point in the story. It showcases resistance and expression amongst the people in the juke joint. Music is the heart that makes the movie beat rhythmically. There’s a yearning for expression, sided with the longing for connection, with the blues and Irish folk music. Sammie takes advantage of his talent in singing the blues as a way to connect with his culture and people; if he did not have this form of expression, the disconnect between his culture and the learned culture of being in the south would grow exponentially. An important point within the movie is that Sammie never lets go of the blues. People try to take it, call it the devil’s work, but he never lets go of his connection to his past and the present.
If you’re a die-hard movie geek, you’d like to know that “Sinners” is shot on IMAX 70mm film in a 1.43:1 aspect ratio. This brings the audience the clearest image you can get, alongside the fact that “Sinners” is the first film to be shot using both IMAX (1.43:1) film and Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1), bringing in a new and more difficult game to the movie scene. Seeing the movie in theaters is a must. Embracing these wide shots, high-quality film and surround sound adds to the experience of immersion and understanding.
Overall, the 5/5 ranking brings no surprise. Art, music, culture, religion and history are all tied together in a bloody battle between vampires and humans. This is a must when it comes to watching movies at least once. Even if vampires aren’t your thing, you’ll leave the theater with a valuable lesson about history.
