May 10th, 2025

It’s not often that we see a wholly new idea come to light at the box office. Often films are based off of existing IP, for recognizability for audiences and safety for studios. It’s easier to sell a ticket after all, if the person you’re selling it to recognizes an author’s name, or a comic book character, or a cartoon cat. It is even more rare, that on the few occasions where a new idea does make its way to the silver screen, that it connects with audiences in such a profound way that within a week it’s safe to call it one of the best success stories of the modern film era.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has managed to do both of these things in spectacular fashion. After opening to a solid 48 million dollars and exceptional reviews, the film did the unthinkable. The weekend to weekend drop, which usually hangs around the -50% to -70% range even for the warmest of receptions was a jaw dropping -4.8%. Any concerns of the movie not making it’s budget back were quickly dashed as film fans, Warner Bros, and Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan roared in triumph.

This is not just a win for them, but for film at large. A movie as capably developed as Sinners deserves its time in the sun. The film follows the machinations of two young Black twins, both played by Michael B. Jordan. Smoke and Stack, fresh from their time as gangsters under Al Capone in Chicago and with plenty of money to spend, use their wiles to buy an old barn and begin to turn it into a juke joint for their friends and family to have a place to belong in Jim Crow Mississippi.

Coogler’s films are all centered on the Black experience in America, and Sinners is no different. The film takes it’s time shifting from a Blues Brothersesque “getting the band back together” energy as the twins find the people from their old life that can help in this endeavor, to a Night of the Living Dead feel as they realize they are trapped in the juke joint they constructed, being hunted by evil Irish vampires.

The vampires that hunt them try to enlist Smoke, Stack, and their friends by playing on their fears of being persecuted. If they just give into their defeat they can join the undead in this acceptance of failure. Failure to stand up to the unfair treatment they endure in 1920s America, failure to launch businesses and be seen as people by the white Americans that they are forced to next to. Getting bitten by vampires feels like falling into depression.

It’s a novel concept, and the action and pacing of the film are really what make it shine. I think that in some of the metaphor the movie gets a little sweaty. It’s hard to tell if the vampires themselves are good or bad? Should they be seen as sympathetic? Certainly more so than the Klansmen that eventually make an appearance, but the movie can’t seem to decide where on the moral spectrum the villain of the movie lands for a bulk of it’s run. There’s an end credits scene that further confuses this point even. And it’s something that Coogler usually does well, the villain in Black Panther after all is probably the most sympathetic villain in all of the MCU. So it’s a little frustrating to see him struggle to get his point across here.

But still, Sinners is an absolute blast. It looks incredible having been shot on film. The soundtrack is a focal point of the movie, particularly when there’s a stone cold oner around the juke joint as artists from past and future join the twin’s cousin, Sammie (Miles Canton) as he plays his guitar. We see the spirts playing electric guitar, as well as tribesmen on drums as we float through the crowd and the music coalesces around and through Sammie. It’s the best scene in the movie and a reminder of how talented Ryan Coogler really is, both in his direction of actors, compiling a shot, and moving the camera through a busy sequence.

Hailee Steinfeld also gets a scene stealing performance, getting to dive into her own multicultural past as she portrays a black woman that can “pass” for white in a world where that’s the safest option. Other great performances from the cast include Delroy Lindo, and Wunmi Mosaku who both have excellent sequences throughout. A true ensemble piece, Sinners is sure to give each character a moment to make an impact.

4/5