Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler)

by Jack Martin | Apr 19, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 138 mins

UK Distributor: Warner Bros

UK Release Date: 18 April 2025

WHO’S IN SINNERS?

Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Ryan Coogler (director, writer, producer), Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian (producers), Ludwig Göransson (composer), Autumn Durald Arkapaw (cinematographer), Michael P. Shawver (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In Jim Crow-era America, a pair of twins (both Jordan) come up against a terrifying evil…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON SINNERS?

Folks, you need to go see Sinners right now. Like seriously, stop reading this review and just go see it, then come back and read my own thoughts on it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Still here? And still not convinced? How about the fact that not only is Ryan Coogler’s latest film genuinely great – like, “one of the best of the year so far” kind of good – but also a surefire sign that original blockbuster filmmaking, a rare sight to see in today’s IP-driven market, is alive and well? Films like Sinners do not come around so often, and when they do, we as both critics and audiences need to support them as much as possible, in order for the studios to take many more chances on bold and visionary auteurs like Coogler. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck with about 50 Minecraft Movies a year for the foreseeable future.

Do you want that on your conscience? Of course you don’t. So go see Sinners, a film that deserves to be experienced by anyone who claims to love movies, especially on this level of genre storytelling that is become rarer and rarer by the minute.

Taking place in 1930s Mississippi, twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) – having previously served in the First World War and run a successful crime racket with Al Capone in Chicago – return home to open a juke joint, recruiting several people across town to help them out, including veteran blues player Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), Smoke’s estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) and even their young cousin, aspiring musician Sammy (Miles Caton). However, their opening night turns into a waking nightmare when a group of curious beings, led by a man named Remmick (Jack O’Connell), stop by to ask about coming in and joining the festivities, but turn sinister when they’re refused entry. As it turns out, Remmick and his vastly growing crew are vampires, albeit ones that aren’t just after blood, but the very essence of the Black culture being birthed in this very joint.

This is, at the core of Coogler’s film, where the true horror lies. It isn’t so much that the vampires are literal blood-sucking parasites, but also in the theoretical sense as their attraction to this other-worldly music represents the appropriation and exploitation of it by powerful – and, let’s be honest, white – figures who seek to reshape it in their own image and, in the process, take away its soul. Coogler carefully constructs his metaphor around traditional vampire lore – the likes of wooden stakes, garlic and sunlight are all deadly weapons here – without distracting too much from the underlying commentary, one that sadly plays a deep role in the overall Black experience, particularly in a historically racist country like America. But crucially, he also does not allow his metaphor to get in the way of delivering great vampire thrills, with the bloodsuckers themselves giving plenty of creepy cult-like vibes and at one point even a musical number with Jack O’Connell doing an Irish jig. Add some impressively crafted gore, brought to life via top-quality effects, and you have yourself some devious vampires to be afraid of.

Coogler is also a fantastic filmic storyteller, as has previously been proven in his other films, but here he really pays attention to his characters and gives them enough dramatic layers for the plot to feel fully fleshed out, long before the vampires even show up. In a complimentary way, it feels like you’re watching the first episode of a miniseries, as we spend a great deal of time watching the likes of Michael B. Jordan’s twins (with the actor delivering a pair of magnetic turns that play well into his extremely charismatic movie star persona) just interacting with people across town, among them an Asian shopkeeper couple and Hailee Steinfeld as a former flame, and each core character is given a weighty introduction where you get a complete sense of their identity and personality within minutes of meeting them. Coogler does such a grand job of establishing his characters that later moments, particularly after the vampires come into the picture, hit much harder as you’ve gotten to really like many of them, to the point that you’d prefer most of them to not meet such a grisly end.

It’s also great to watch this world come alive, in ways where you can really feel its history and sense of community in just a handful of shots. Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography leans into the grittiness of the time period with a slick sense of beauty (side note: if you can, see this movie in 70mm IMAX for the fullest scale), with period costumes and sets displaying an attractive lived-in nature while also playing into some of the more mystical, even spiritual moments of the movie.

There is one sequence in particular, which you’ll known as soon as it kicks off, that is simply jaw-dropping in its ideas and themes, not to mention its execution as it’s all done as, or at least edited to look like, a long-take that in seconds takes viewers on an unexpected journey through the rich culture at the film’s core. All of it is masterfully done by a filmmaker who, with exceptional talent both in front of and behind the camera, knows exactly how to build an entire world filled with rich and exciting inhabitants as well as layers upon layers of smart blockbuster storytelling, and it’s mesmerising to watch in practise, to say the least.

The only downside to it all is that you’re still here reading this review, when you should be halfway to the cinema by now, reserving your tickets for a big-screen event that needs to be seen and supported to ensure that many more Ryan Cooglers are given this kind of golden opportunity in the future. So go now, and don’t look back. You won’t regret it in the slightest.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Sinners is masterful genre storytelling and exceptional blockbuster filmmaking on full display, as Ryan Coogler crafts a mesmerising world filled with richly developed characters and a compelling social commentary that needs to be supported in its entirety.