SINNERS
2025 | Dir. Ryan Coogler | 138 Minutes
"Blues wasn't forced on us like that religion. Nah, son, we brought this with us from home. It's magic, what we do. It's sacred, and big."
2025 | Dir. Ryan Coogler | 138 Minutes
"Blues wasn't forced on us like that religion. Nah, son, we brought this with us from home. It's magic, what we do. It's sacred, and big."
Sharecropper and dutiful son of a preacher, young Sammie Moore longs to leave his plantation to be a traveling musician. One fateful night, Sammie discovers the full unexpectedly supernatural extent of his talent.
Ryan Coogler's Sinners is a monumental work of art. Filled with drama, music, romance, action, and buckets of blood, the picture is a superbly entertaining crowd-pleaser. Beyond its value as a widely accessible and all-around excellent genre film, the feature also serves as a sobering examination of the existential fears people of color experience in America that are as relevant in the early 20th century as they are today. Depicting the thinly veiled hatred of bigots who don't even bother to lie convincingly, the insidious threat of cultural appropriation and subsequent absorption, and the importance of finding and holding onto moments of joy especially in the face of adversity, Sinners skillfully weaves a story that encompasses a prevalent aspect of the American experience with poignancy, earnestness, and emotional resonance.
Perhaps more than the immersive production design by Hannah Beachler that transports the audience to rural 1930s Clarksdale, Mississippi or exceptional visual effects work that convincingly duplicates the picture's lead actor, the genre-traversing musical score courtesy of constant Ryan Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson is nothing short of integral to Sinners. The sound of blues accompanies the heroes of the picture, while the vampires introduce elements of Irish folk music, gothic-horror-coded organ, and even heavy metal into the eclectic soundscape. Göransson's audacious soundtrack is always in service the plot, made abundantly apparent in the central set piece of the feature, worth the price of admission alone, in which the impressionable young musical savant performs his signature song and literally summons spirits from the past and future as the blues tune is infused with the sounds of rock, hip hop, West African drum beats, and even Chinese opera.
Michael B. Jordan is simply perfect as both the lethally no-nonsense Smoke and the wild hot-headed Stack, personifying the duality of zero compromise and foolhardy recklessness in the day-to-day struggle to survive. Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku both share electric onscreen chemistry with Jordan, emotionally powerful halves of two vastly different tragic romances. The picture's breakout star Miles Caton is absolutely engaging as Sammie, naturally charismatic in a memorable cinematic debut, and his voice is out of this world. Stealing all of his scenes, Delroy Lindo brings both hilarious comedic timing and pathos as veteran bluesman Delta Slim. Jack O'Connell makes for a compelling villain as the vampire Remmick, giving the fiend outstanding layers of depth. The supporting cast also features superb performances from Li Jun Li, and Jayme Lawson, and Omar Benson Miller.
Sinners is an unequivocal milestone for American cinema. The picture functions beautifully as a breathtaking celebration of the transportational power of music, as a stirring Prohibition-era drama set in the perilous cotton field hellscape of Jim Crow Mississippi, and as a mercilessly gruesome vampire movie authentically rooted in folklore. It vividly illustrates the struggle of American minorities against the myriad forces of oppression, whether it takes the form of overt violent bigotry or the insidious lure of cultural assimilation.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
In 1992, Sammie receives a pair of unexpected visitors.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
Sammie practices playing and singing "This Little Light of Mine" in his father's church.
FRAGMENTS
- This marks actor Michael B. Jordan and composer Ludwig Göransson's fifth consecutive collaboration with director Ryan Coogler
- Ruth E. Carter designed some of the featured period costumes for Marvel Studios' troubled production of Blade
- The "I Lied to You" sequence is instantly one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history, and as a Chinese American, I could not be more surprised and thrilled to see Chinese opera represented among the spirits including a brief but prominent appearance from Monkey King Sun Wukong
- Conversely, Jack O'Connell's Mandarin is disappointingly atrocious
- The manner in which Smoke goes out in a blaze of glory taking out the Klansman reminds me of the finale of Cowboy Bebop
- Seeing Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld in early 90s fashion is incredibly amusing
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Michael B. Jordan (N'Jadaka/Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
- Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop in The Marvels)
- Wunmi Mosaku (B-15 in Deadpool & Wolverine)
Ryan Coogler's Sinners is a monumental work of art. Filled with drama, music, romance, action, and buckets of blood, the picture is a superbly entertaining crowd-pleaser. Beyond its value as a widely accessible and all-around excellent genre film, the feature also serves as a sobering examination of the existential fears people of color experience in America that are as relevant in the early 20th century as they are today. Depicting the thinly veiled hatred of bigots who don't even bother to lie convincingly, the insidious threat of cultural appropriation and subsequent absorption, and the importance of finding and holding onto moments of joy especially in the face of adversity, Sinners skillfully weaves a story that encompasses a prevalent aspect of the American experience with poignancy, earnestness, and emotional resonance.
Perhaps more than the immersive production design by Hannah Beachler that transports the audience to rural 1930s Clarksdale, Mississippi or exceptional visual effects work that convincingly duplicates the picture's lead actor, the genre-traversing musical score courtesy of constant Ryan Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson is nothing short of integral to Sinners. The sound of blues accompanies the heroes of the picture, while the vampires introduce elements of Irish folk music, gothic-horror-coded organ, and even heavy metal into the eclectic soundscape. Göransson's audacious soundtrack is always in service the plot, made abundantly apparent in the central set piece of the feature, worth the price of admission alone, in which the impressionable young musical savant performs his signature song and literally summons spirits from the past and future as the blues tune is infused with the sounds of rock, hip hop, West African drum beats, and even Chinese opera.
Michael B. Jordan is simply perfect as both the lethally no-nonsense Smoke and the wild hot-headed Stack, personifying the duality of zero compromise and foolhardy recklessness in the day-to-day struggle to survive. Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku both share electric onscreen chemistry with Jordan, emotionally powerful halves of two vastly different tragic romances. The picture's breakout star Miles Caton is absolutely engaging as Sammie, naturally charismatic in a memorable cinematic debut, and his voice is out of this world. Stealing all of his scenes, Delroy Lindo brings both hilarious comedic timing and pathos as veteran bluesman Delta Slim. Jack O'Connell makes for a compelling villain as the vampire Remmick, giving the fiend outstanding layers of depth. The supporting cast also features superb performances from Li Jun Li, and Jayme Lawson, and Omar Benson Miller.
Sinners is an unequivocal milestone for American cinema. The picture functions beautifully as a breathtaking celebration of the transportational power of music, as a stirring Prohibition-era drama set in the perilous cotton field hellscape of Jim Crow Mississippi, and as a mercilessly gruesome vampire movie authentically rooted in folklore. It vividly illustrates the struggle of American minorities against the myriad forces of oppression, whether it takes the form of overt violent bigotry or the insidious lure of cultural assimilation.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
In 1992, Sammie receives a pair of unexpected visitors.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
Sammie practices playing and singing "This Little Light of Mine" in his father's church.
FRAGMENTS
- This marks actor Michael B. Jordan and composer Ludwig Göransson's fifth consecutive collaboration with director Ryan Coogler
- Ruth E. Carter designed some of the featured period costumes for Marvel Studios' troubled production of Blade
- The "I Lied to You" sequence is instantly one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history, and as a Chinese American, I could not be more surprised and thrilled to see Chinese opera represented among the spirits including a brief but prominent appearance from Monkey King Sun Wukong
- Conversely, Jack O'Connell's Mandarin is disappointingly atrocious
- The manner in which Smoke goes out in a blaze of glory taking out the Klansman reminds me of the finale of Cowboy Bebop
- Seeing Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld in early 90s fashion is incredibly amusing
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Michael B. Jordan (N'Jadaka/Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
- Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop in The Marvels)
- Wunmi Mosaku (B-15 in Deadpool & Wolverine)
