This article contains spoilers for Sinners.
Released on April 18, Sinners racked up $71 million in its first week, has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 98 percent, and a 4.3/5 average on Letterboxd. After watching it myself, I agree that the hype for the film is warranted. In reading reviews, it’s clear that discussions about the film are driving up passion, ratings, and new analysis day by day.
Michael B. Jordan deserves an Oscar for this complex role of playing twin brothers who return home to Mississippi and are faced with old relationships, problems, and a chilling new evil. Director Ryan Coogler thanked fans in an open letter, touched by the overly positive responses to the film, saying, “To see your response to the film has re-invigorated me and many others who believe in this art form.”
My cinematic experience of watching Sinners was amazing. The music scenes were some of the best I’ve seen. Any scene with music and dancing was accompanied by stunning visuals, smooth transitions, and visible plot points. While horror movies typically use a lot of silence, this wasn’t the same for Coogler’s film, allowing high scores to hold viewers’ attention for the duration of the two-hour and 17-minute film.
Context
Michael B. Jordan plays both roles of the SmokeStack twins. Smoke wears a blue suit, representative of his often calmer, calculated demeanor, which is the opposite of his playful and energetic red suit-wearing brother, Stack.
The costuming reminded me a lot of the New Orleans chic in Interview With A Vampire. In this film, the clothing was very well put together for the temperament of the characters as well. For example, Pearline’s dress being such a bright color that makes her stand out was an ode to who her character would be.
The romance
You can really see the difference in the SmokeStack twins’ outlook on life in their love confessions. For Smoke and Annie, you can tell from the first time they’re together in her shop that they are extremely respectful of each other, even when faced with the other’s tenacity. Bringing up the miscarriage is one of the first times we see Smoke break his calm exterior, showing his hidden desire for love.
The fact that Annie doesn’t back down and instead comforts him by referencing that she prays for and protects him with her blessed bag of remedies is revealing of her own character. Smoke wearing the necklace under his suit shows just how much he cares about Annie. When Annie said “your body ain’t forget me” I audibly gasped. This depiction of love is intentional and highlights the way they don’t question each other’s motives.
Stack’s relationship with his love interest, Mary, is a little more complicated. Telling her “I love you, I think about you every day” after going to great lengths to avoid her sheds light on his perception of love. Mary and Stack could never be together, though, because she’s outwardly white passing, and interracial marriage became legal 31 years after the movie takes place. Their love for each other ultimately leads them to embrace their transformation into vampires, seeing as it’s the only way they can truly be together.
My Three favorite scenes
Preacher Boy Sammie singing
The narration in the back of Sammie’s singing describing how certain artists and music can transcend and unite the past, present, and future sets the stage for an understanding of the different cultural elements that come next. Hip-hop and tribal representation, Asian and African dance, guitarists, and ballet dancers all come together in a stunning montage. The blending of these cultural representations of music, genres, and dance in such a cinematic way left me absolutely stunned.
Vampire Dance circle outside of the Juke Joint
Remmick and the newly turned vampires begin to dance surrounded by fire in another visually breathtaking scene, truly highlighting the horror aspect of the evil rejoicing. I like this scene because of the many ways it can be interpreted.
My favorite explanations have been that Remmick, given his Irish background, was familiar with colonization and assimilation, so this scene represents the Black southern vampires now assimilating to Remmick (their leader). This explanation makes sense because Remmick knows exactly what to do and say to get people in line; when he realizes the couple were KKK members he plays on their greed. Anticipating that the couple weren’t going to put down their shotgun out of sincerity worked for him and now he can lead and do what was done to him instead.
Delta Slim’s Song
In this scene, Delta Slim describes the story of his friend who was lynched and slowly transitions from the story into a blues song. It was a beautiful representation of the true meaning and purposes of blues music, offering an outlet for pain, memories, and hurt.
Religion’s role
The questioning of Christianity is something I thought was very well done in this film. There are times when I thought this was both a criticism and extension of Christianity, specifically the scene when Sammie is in the water, presumably about to be bitten by the original vampire Remmick, in which he begins reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
Remmick recites the prayer as well, divulging the words used to give him comfort. At this point, I could see this upholding religion, as it’s common to hear in Christianity that the evil you seek protection from hears what you say aloud. This perspective is reinforced when Remmick taunts Grace using the memories of her husband, Bo, to push her over the edge and ultimately allow the vampires inside.
Again, Sammie’s father, a church leader, represents some Christian tenets when he warns his son about dancing with the devil when he is leaving to play music with his cousins. Remmick says he came specifically for Sammie, which could be interpreted as the warning his father gave coming to fruition.
On the other hand, while religion is commonly seen as a savior and protection against evil, what typically is chastised, like spells and magical relics, are what ultimately offer protection. Stack is unable to turn Smoke into a vampire and unable to bite him because of the mojo pouch Annie made him for protection.
To deprive Michael B. Jordan and Director Ryan Coogler of awards for this film would be a sin in itself! I loved this film because of how much I respect the art behind it. A vampire horror movie with complex characters and southern charm is not what I expected to be as one of my favorite films of the year, but the amazing work by a star-studded cast is just what audiences needed to start off the 2025 film year.
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