After a long delay when the masses of people were crying out for missing their monthly movie post, you can rest easy. We are back! You have missed nothing. And now you get this one (two weeks late) and another one on schedule (in theory). What a world! I am choosing to do something I rarely do – which is to write about a film from the previous year that was not my Oscar pick. This really was my top pick from last year, but it took two viewings to want to write about it. Buckle up and get ready to move through the unique world of Sinners (2025, dir. Ryan Coogler).
Sinners is a unique film that tells the story of Smoke and Stack (both played by an incredible Michael B. Jordan). They are twin brothers who were involved with the Chicago mob in the 1920s and return to their native Mississippi in 1932 to open a juke joint. The entirety of the primary action of the film takes place on their opening night, including them recruiting their staff: guitarist/singer/cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), chef Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), supplies Grace and Bo Chow (Li Jun Li and Yao, respectively), and bouncer Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller). Things are going extremely well until their establishment is visited by a group of vampires led by Remmick (Jack O’Connell). At this point it becomes a battle of good vs. evil and a race against time until sunrise.
Vampire stories have become quite common in the past twenty years or so. Most of them have not been to my liking. It just has not been a subgenre I have cared much about. Sinners is absolutely the exception. As stated earlier, it took multiple viewings to begin to understand why. What immediately struck me the first time was how beautifully shot the film is. Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Oscar-winning cinematography is truly breathtaking. Coogler knows what he is doing in terms of framing the action, too. But more than that, the performances and sequencing elevate the material to excellence. Jordan delivers his greatest performance to date in the dual roles he is asked to play. Mosaku also deserves mention for being the emotional center of the film and helping to ground the supernatural elements in earthy realism.
I do feel the score also warrants its own paragraph. One of the most incredible shots of the film showcases the score, direction, and cinematography all at once. When Sammie begins to play at the club, we see a creative interweaving of the history of blues music – bringing in aspects of Native American tribal chants, east Asian influences, southern spirituals – with the future of blues, including hip hop, DJ mixing, and modern dance styles. All of melts into the present time of the film seamlessly and effortlessly until all aspects seem to be happening at once. It is the type of film sequence that makes you want to pause and rewatch immediately.
There is extraordinarily little to nitpick when it comes to the film. It builds extremely well, though while it is building, it can feel a little slow. Upon a second viewing, I found that to be much more methodical and thematic than boring. Once the major action sequence begins, it feels a bit fantastical that the outnumbered juke joint crowd can hold off the vampire onslaught as well as they do. These are minor concerns in thrilling moviegoing experience, though. I suppose I can appreciate that the film is not for everyone (vampire films typically have their supporters and detractors, but to distill Sinners down to “a vampire film” is unfairly reductive), but do yourself a favor and branch out if you, like me, have historically not been a fan of the genre. You might experience the same enthralling evening as I did. There is nothing sinful about that.
FUN FACT – As a testament to its completeness as a film, Sinners was nominated for a record 16 Academy Awards in 2025. It won four (Jordan, Arkapaw, Coogler winning for his screenplay and Ludwig Goransson for his original score). The only horror film to win more Oscars was The Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Jonathan Demme).
https://www.justwatch.com/ says that Sinners is currently streaming on HBOMax (with a subscription). It is also available for rent/purchase on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and many other services.
