Sinners

Despite only having a few credits to his name, Ryan Coogler has quickly risen in the ranks of directors worth looking out for. After the small but meaningful success of his first feature, Fruitvale Station, Coogler quickly catapulted to mainstream stardom after the success of his 2015 Rocky spin-off, Creed, and the 2018 Marvel film Black Panther and its sequel, positioning him as a filmmaker with great style, authentic grit, and a fantastic ability at picking amazing actors. This led to a solid amount of hype when it was revealed that he would be working on a period horror film set in 1930s Jim Crow-era Louisiana centred around vampires, as the potential that could come from this premise was as rich and flowing as the blood from a fresh vampire bite. It proved to be more than just hype after the movie’s initial reactions were insanely positive, propelling what could’ve just been a niche stylish horror film into a contender for one of the greatest films of the year.

Set in 1932 within the Mississippi Delta, identical twin brothers, Elijah and Elias otherwise known as Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) return from Chicago after robbing some gangsters to set up a juke joint for the local community after purchasing a saw mil from a racist landowner. Prepping for a night to remember, they invite several of their friends and family, including their aspiring guitarist cousin, Sammie (played by Miles Caton), Smoke’s estranged wife, Annie (played by Wunmi Mosaku), local Chinese shop owners, Grace and Bo (played by Li Jun Li and Yao), drunkard pianist Delta Slim (played by Delroy Lindo), and Stack’s ex-girlfriend Mary (played by Hailee Steinfeld) who passes for white even though she’s 1/8th black. With Sammie’s powerful singing livening up the party, spirits of the dead are lured to the sound, including that of Irish-immigrant vampire, Remmick (played by Jack O’Connell) who after turning a pair of Klansmen into followers, travels to the saw mill and proceeds to turn a majority of the partygoers (including Mary and Stack) into one of his own. Needing to last until sunrise, Smoke and the remaining guests are forced to survive the night while being tormented by shades of their loved ones.

Sinners isn’t a phenomenally new concept and follows a standard template, but is delivered in such a passionate, energized, and flavorful manner that you’re eagerly accepting of everything it does. With great atmosphere, very engrossing music, a believable environment, a fun mixture of traditional and uncommon ideas, and a fantastic cast, this movie deserves all the praise it has received.

Initially announced in early 2024, Sinners came out of a desire from Coogler to work on something original after specifically doing franchise films for the past few years. While the concept of vampires attacking people and needing to last a period of time while being surrounded by a deathly horde isn’t anything new for a horror film, setting this narrative in the American South during the 1930s with a majority African-American cast hadn’t really been done before with a large-scale budget and cast, which no doubt inspired Coogler to get working on the film. He managed to release the film in 2025 through his own production company, Proximity Media, and with the help of Warner Brothers, who won the distribution rights after a bidding war. In terms of the set-up, Sinners offers what would be expected from a typical survivalist supernatural horror story, which does highlight that in spite of the film being praised for its originality, it technically doesn’t do anything that special from a writing perspective. Because the premise is so quick to grasp and the film seems more interested in mood setting and character building rather than world and narrative construction, it leaves the script feeling a little all over the place. There are some fun ideas like vampirism acting as a demented solution to battling discrimination, and some arcs are established like Sammie trying to become a musician against the will of his preacher father, but the movie gets so caught up in its wild delivery that it can sometimes sacrifice more in-depth emotional resonance.

Ryan Coogler may offer a script that only does its duty rather than surprises or innovates, but his direction really shines, as the film is dripping with passionate performances, glowing visuals, pounding music, and a sparky personality which gives it its own identity. While the movie has tonal similarities to people like Quentin Tarantino, Sam Raimi and Robert Rodriguez, it still feels like its own thing thanks to some interesting creative decisions that have the chance of being a little divisive. While the movie does a pretty great job feeling like a standard dramatic period piece, this almost works to its detriment when it includes something so radically modern as it feels noticeably out-of-place. While some of these elements can be a little odd like inserting flashbacks to illustrate a point that doesn’t require it, it actually benefits from this blended identity as even if some of the choices are strange, they’ll stay in your memory. The greatest example of this is when Sammie plays for the crowd, as in doing so, musicians from the past (like tribal dancers and drummers) and the future (like hip-hop dancers and disc jockeys) join in. While this is jarring to see in such a believable contemporary environment, the vision is clear and well executed, so Coogler was able to take a risk and make it pay off.

Coogler really knows how to pick great actor. In the four films he’s released thus far, each has featured extremely talented people who know how to work with his punchy, exaggerated, and gritty style which has led to a lot of fantastic, memorable, even award-winning performances. So, it should come as no surprise that this film also contains an amazing ensemble who are given the delightful task of portraying both believable citizens of a 1930s multicultural Louisiana region, as well as survivors of a chaotic, crazy vampire hunt, and they manage both fantastically. While their ability to authentically emulate the look and attitude of the time period is impressive, the way they can break that regularity and show a more zany, modern zestiness without it feeling out of place is leagues more eye-catching. The film really springs to life once the vampires come into play and even though it still has a fair amount of drama and tension, it adopts a comedic energy that strangely fits very nicely in this world and keeps things wonderfully unpredictable. An actor playing dual roles can easily be seen as an excuse to flex and considering Coogler’s clear love and appreciation for Michael B. Jordan (he’s in all four of his movies in some major fashion), it’s not surprising that he cast him as twins in this feature, but it thankfully doesn’t feel gimmicky. Not only does the connection between twins feel more genuine if they look exact, but considering one stays normal while the other gets bitten, it provides Jordan a chance to play dueling identities and he really does a great job as both, it’s a testament to what an absolute powerhouse of an actor he is.

The supporting cast helps bring a lot of personality, character and energy to the film, with each having very standard but still pronounced personalities that, while not resulting in the most complex bunch, make for a memorable group to spend a movie with. Wunmi Mosaku brings a lot of conviction to her part as Annie, Delroy Lindo showcases his veteran acting status by bringing a subdued sense of levity to this drunken yet still seasoned elderly musician, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Yao, Saul Williams, and Buddy Guy provide brief but still memorable bit parts, Jack O’Connell is beautifully over-the-top as Remmick (as are his vampiric compatriots, Lola Kirk and Peter Dreimanis), and their sinisterly pleasant moods and glowing red eyes keeps them intimidating, Hailee Steinfeld may seem like an odd choice for a 1930s housewife when she’s such a modern personality, yet she shines just as brightly as Jordan when she gets turned, and Miles Caton makes a pretty great first impression as Sammie (if that is his actual singing voice, he really does have a sound that would summon spirits).

There’s a solid debate to be had whether or not this movie needed to have modern, blockbuster-esque qualities since even if they help what is otherwise a pretty standard narrative feel a little more interesting, it does such a good job portraying the time period that it might not have even needed them. This is thanks to the very impressive production value which provides a crisp, clean and very cinematic look at Louisiana, with the setting, the culture and the Southern ingredients adding onto the film’s personality and helping it build a very concreate visual identity. The production design by Hannah Beachler and the costume design by Ruth E. Carter is a very nice recreation of the time period that portrays the populace and the community in a working class but still bustling nature, and since the film knows when not to be restricted by normalcy and liven things up through atmospheric shadow work and lighting as well as strong color grading, it’s a look that feels more purposefully presented and showy than other more dramatic presentations of this environment. The cinematography by Autumn Arkapaw never presents any dramatically wild or different camera angles, but they nonetheless feel expertly framed, angled and positioned to portray this homely environment in a cinematic fashion.

The action isn’t too frequent and when it is featured, it can be a little hard to follow due to the slightly choppy editing from Michael P. Shawver, but the best parts are when the characters are working off each other, so it knows where to keep the focus. The music is so prolific and integral to the story that the movie could almost pass as a musical, but that proves to be a good thing in this case. The songs are sung very well, the earthy percussive, bluesy instruments offers an ancient Southern vibe which sounds amazing (with the talks of vampires and spiritualism also adding to the folktale-like atmosphere of the story), and the musical score by Ludwig Göransson does a great job retaining that sound while also adding in more current-day elements like a swooning symphonic quality to heighten the mood and increase the tension. Considering how much effort he and his wife, Serena Göransson, put into crafting the blues music with utmost respect and authenticity (even getting several blues artist like Alvin Youngblood Hart, Cedric Burnside, Brittany Howard, Raphael Saadiq, Bobby Rush and Buddy Guy to help record the songs), it’s great seeing that it’s one of the film’s most applauded elements and showcases the abilities of two very talented musicians.

Sinners is already being labelled as one of the best films of 2025, and while it might not be perfect, it’s hard not to understand people’s enthusiasm. It has a lot of great elements and it’s being led by a filmmaker who may still be growing but will have a nice feather in his cap thanks to this feature. Even though the story is pretty standard, the scripting really only does its job rather than exceed expectations, and it maybe could’ve fleshed out some of its ideas more to really provide an emotional experience, it has pleasing visual design, a distinct tone that does try to experiment, very strong direction and a lot of juicy performances. If you’re a fan of Coogler’s work or like horror films that have a bit of intellect, Sinners has plenty to sink your teeth into.