Sinners
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writer: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Miles Caton, Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Yao, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo, Omar Benson Miller, Lola Kirke
Seen on: 30.4.2025

Content Note: (critical treatment of) racism including lynching

Plot:
Sammie (Miles Caton) wants nothing more than to make music, and when his cousins Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return to town, he can get that chance. Because Smoke and Stack have come into a bit of money and a lot of booze, and they want to open a juke joint. But it’s not only the people from their town that are drawn to this venture, there is also something evil lurking just outside.

Sinners is an amazing spectacle, a layered social critique and a fresh entry into the vampire genre. I went into it with high expectations and came out of it with those expectations surpassed.

Sinners is very much a film that is not made for me, a white person. It is a film that speaks of, about and with Black people. As such, I am sure that I missed a lot of the references and nods to Black history and culture. I can only imagine what a rich experience it must be to watch this film as a Black person, because for me already it was such a great movie.

There is one scene in particular that is simply electrifying movie magic that stands out in a movie that is way above average as a whole. When Sammie starts playing at the juke joint and the movie weaves a tapestry of Black (music) culture, history and present, drawing the line from the past to the present into the future, it is the kind of scene that not many filmmakers ever manage to make. It left me breathless, speechless and moved. (It is also perfectly contrasted with the vampire music scene that is amazing, too, but in such a different way.)

There are other excellent scenes, and as a whole the film comes together to talk about what it means to deny or be denied your roots, to assimilate to your oppressor, and to the many shapes this sort of violence takes. It gives us a big cast of characters to highlight quite a few aspects of this experience and builds a tapestry so rich, you could fill countless more movies in this world (please don’t! It was so nice to get something original for once!).

The performances are pitch-perfect, with Wunmi Mosaku standing out to me once more, even next to Michael B. Jordan and his layerd double-act. The film is not entirely without fault, but the faults it has are negligible in the face of the many things the film has to say and gets right.

Summarizing: instant favorite.