Sinners (2025) is a horror movie masterpiece produced by Ryan and Zinzi Coogler. It features twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan), businessmen fresh from Chicago, and their cousin Sammy (played by debut actor Miles Caton) a preacher’s son from Mississippi, as they start a jukebox joint in the 1932 Deep South. Along the way, they gather friends and allies for a night of fun, but things turn for the worst when malicious undead start to appear. Although the movie only released in the US on April 18th, the film still garnered $236.7 million by May 5th, owing to a worldwide positive reception. Film rating sites from Rotten Tomatoes to CinemaScore gave the film outstanding ratings, 98% and ‘A’ respectively. For the latter, it was the highest score given to a horror film in over thirty years.
The movie is well-paced, drawing heavily from traditions of Black music. Sammy’s blues are able to call spirits “from the past and future” as an especially moving scene ( “The Surreal Montage”) in the film depicts. Sammy’s arc, of embracing his passion for music despite the evil it attracts, is a resonating one. For blues lovers, the film lovingly showcases various singing and dancing montages, some joyful, some sinister, especially when overlaid with the film’s superb fight scenes.
Female characters have just as much attention put into them as the men. The talented Wunmi Mosaku plays Annie, a Hoodoo healer who helps the cast survive the supernatural evils that plague them. Coogler sought the advice of religious scholar and Hoodoo specialist Dr. Yvonne Chireau to ground Annie’s practices in reality. He hoped to use the film as a way to depict African spirituality accurately and respectfully.
In addition to the music and the exciting plot, the film utilized loving costuming and cinematography to incite emotions in the viewer. Because of this, the audience can now immerse themselves in the world of 1932 Mississippi and the people who lived in the era. Oscar-winner Ruth E. Carter crafted clothes that were clearly southern and accented each character’s qualities. Fight scenes in the movie were fast-paced and very exciting to witness. Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the cinematographer, utilized aspect ratios, framing, and special effects to create the “Surreal Montage”, a masterpiece that ties Black history, ancestry, and community together through the power of storytelling.
An overarching thematic concept of Sinners is institutionalized racism, and the violence it entails. A primary symbol of this is the undead that seek to destroy Smoke and Stack’s jukebox joint (and more explicitly, symbolized by the KKK). The Cooglers tie the history of Black oppression alongside the Irish, showing the similarities and differences in the oppression both groups encountered.
Overall, Sinners is an incredibly entertaining movie, full of action, natural costuming, excellent shot-framing, and symbolism. More than anything, Sinners depicts Black culture, racism, assimilation, and the influence music can have on communities. It could do no less than 5/5 stars.
