Sinners

• Produced, Written, and Directed by Ryan Coogler
• April 3, 2025 (AMC Lincoln Square) / April 18, 2025 (US)

In the Mississippi Delta during the ‘30s criminal twin brothers return to their hometown where they face a horde of vampires at the opening of their juke joint. It is always something…

A strength Sinners has from the start is that it is set in the past making the supernatural happenings much more otherworldly. It is a time no viewer lived through so some part of your mind believes anything could happen. Given a slight nudge this film could have easily moved into the realm of dark fantasy. It would have provided for a more interesting and focused narrative. Beyond that I cannot laud this with the praise so many have.

There is talk about how some people can make music so true that they can conjure spirits from the past and the future. It is a good line with good accompanying visuals but things become comical when they bring in conjurings from what would be the future of this movie’s setting. The guy with the 70s rocker look and the hip-hop dancers twerking just made me laugh. Both felt very out of place.

There is a need to introduce the viewer to the time and place, but Coogler takes far too much time displaying the minutia of life. Nobody needs to watch a particular character walk around or hear extended conversations that amount to small talk. There is such a thing as economy of storytelling to prevent narrative lag. We have quite a talented cast, but the script engages in the crime of justifying an actor rather than keeping the dialogue to what is necessary for the story.

And how Sinners loves its dialogue. There are plenty of monologues that go on and on and so very on. It reaches a point when occurring with a threat where it goes from ominous to pure boring. You can only speak for so long before individuals get tired of hearing from you being in real life or in a film. You begin to ask why a character does not just walk away? What in all the blathering could be holding their attention? There is nothing wrong with a dialogue heavy film. They can be quite good but only if those words are moving the story forward.

Based on a runtime-to-horror ratio this is much more of a drama than it is a horror film. In the first hour the only bit of horror we get is when Remmick (Jack O’Connell) converts the local Klan Kouple Bert and Joan (Peter Dreimanis and Lola Kirke respectively) after he gets into their house. The story is more about the personal lives of everyone involved and establishing a juke joint than it is anything else.

The movie gets unnecessarily tawdry. The sex is not the problem though the high focus is unnecessary. When was the last time somebody got hot in an R rated movie over having another character spit in their mouth? Even the trashy 80s horror with their focus of sex over actual substance didn’t get like this. Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) has been turned and the one twin Stack (Michael B. Jordan) is on the floor with her on top. She is drooling over the coming feast but Stack thinks it is a sex thing and asks for “some of that.” I do like the touch of drooling like somebody famished might just before a meal, but the mouth spitting is just too far. It reminds me of the erotic horror subgenre that populated late night pay cable when there were no direct-to-video movies available

There’s certainly a political edge to Sinners but I’m not sure what that edge is. I don’t think Coogler knew it either when he made this. I’m not sure if the story is about systematic racism or general racism or that there are good white people and bad white people or that African-Americans need to self-segregate and build completely on their own without a connection to white society. The vampires also make a pretty good case for not being human anymore. This even tries to take a certain level of anger at religion.

Sammie (Miles Caton), Stack and Smoke’s cousin, is an aspiring musician much to the dislike of his father Saul (Jedidiah Williams). He sneaks to the juke joint on the fateful night and returns to the church the next day having barely survived events yet pretty much immediately leaves. If it all meant nothing it was unnecessary background. If it was a statement then what was that statement? This film certainly took a friendly attitude towards Hoodoo in the form of Smoke’s estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku). Or maybe the movie is just all over the place.

Having one actor play two (or more) parts is a risk. You need to make the personalities distinct. Otherwise the viewer can become lost on who is doing what. I found myself getting lost on which one was Stack and which one was Smoke (also Michael B. Jordan). The clothing did little to help with their assortment of costume changes and a lack of discernable style difference between the two.

I do like the ending though even if it did make it Sammie’s story and not really that of either twin. Sammie (Buddy Guy), now an old man, still carries the scars and the memory of what happened. Stack and Mary pay him a visit in a scene that was dramatic with some great dialogue. Probably one of my favorite acting moments from the whole film. So much was said without being said.

Sinners is adequate. I think it’s overrated. It’s not nearly as scary as it should be and is much more tawdry than necessary. It has something to say but what that is I don’t know because it’s kind of afraid to say it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, but you won’t be as wowed as some would have you believe you should be.