The “point” of Sinners, a rip-snorting vampire-centric music video, is not that “human beings are the real monsters.” The point of Sinners is a stake, driven through the heart of monsters of all-kinds, fanged or not. It is also that the most important thing in life is having a good time with the ones you love and also not summoning unholy hell-beasts by playing music that is simply too good. You are safest playing bad music. So, great news, modern country music fans!
Set in 1930s Mississippi, which is apparently the date and location auto-populated in the time machines of a staggering amount of the American electorate, Sinners is about twin brothers: Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) and Stack (Jichael M. Bordan?). After stints in the military and doing some nefarious gangster stuff in Chicago, the bros blow back into town, having decided everywhere is fairly equally racist in America, an upsettingly and persistently accurate observation.
They are intent on opening a juke joint. That night. The blues waits for no one, as 2025 has well-documented. Their cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton), is quite literally magically bursting with musical talent and is itching to blow the roof off the saw mill Smoke and Stack just bought with money they stole from mobsters. Smoke gets his ex who he still loves, Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) to cook. Stack gets Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) to play with Sammie. Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), Stack’s ex who he still loves, threatens to disrupt the joint’s grand opening with drama.
And then vampires are summoned by Sammie’s supernaturally-epic music making and try and eat everyone.
The first nearly 90 minutes of Sinners features maybe two minutes of vampires. If the movie had featured zero blood-sucking, it would have remained 100% incredible. From the propulsive and relentless score and songs (produced by Ludwig Göransson) to the complex romantic dynamics and themes of religion and racist persecution, there was no need to bring The Lost Boys into this. It is a tonally weird, inconsistent interjection that nearly bursts at the scarred seams where it was hastily attached.
And it is all the more glorious for it.
Sinners is weird, edgy, and dangerous. It is kindly supportive and affirming while being totally mean as hell. Whatever clunky noises are heard or gear-slipping is felt when genres and tones shift are so easily forgiven that nobody even has to beg pardon.
Writer/director Ryan Coogler keeps a clean sheet or stays batting 1.000, depending on whether you prefer your sports metaphors Americanized. His wild ambition is on full display. His first fully original feature film, all others have worked from some measure of source material, hints at a mental vault filled with future franchises. Coogler is not even 40 yet. The list of what’s to come from him represents the entirety of “things to be excited for” right now.
SweatyGorySexyCool isn’t just the first draft of TLC’s best album name, it is the hybrid adjective Sinners has earned. It is not “elevated horror” but is infused with relevance. It is not a full-throated action movie but features an all-time climax. It is not Coogler’s best but is his best so far.
Grade = A
Other Critical Voices to Consider
Nicolás Delgadillo at Knotfest says “Emotional, provocative, boldly original, and brimming with style and soul, it’s one of the most impactful films of the year – and a towering achievement in an already legendary filmography. Don’t invite it in. Let it shake your soul instead.”
Kelechi Ehenulo at Digital Spy says “Sinners is very much about not losing our connections with the past, a past increasingly becoming under repeated threat by current global, social and political shifts, and when Black history is history, it simply cannot be left out of the conversation. Otherwise, as Coogler beautifully demonstrates, it’s a further indignation about the value of Black art itself: they want our rhythm, but none of our blues.”
Rebecca Johnson at Nerdspin says “Through our villainous vampires, the idea of stealing Smoke, Stack, and their friends’ and families’ stories, music, and skills is explored with nuance yet brevity. There’s a lot in here to take away.”