Sinners Review: A Cinematic Spectacle!
As human beings we are always asked to choose a side. You’re either on one team or another, pledging allegiance to the right or left side, making it more palpable for others to identify where you stand. This sentiment often goes hand in hand with filmmaking. You’re either an indie director who cares for the spirit of art and film or a blockbuster, studio working man or woman looking to make the next box office hit. Daring to cross either side and create a film with critical and general audience success is a feat only attempted by the few, especially today.
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Ryan Coogler, known for his immense talent and success with films like Black Panther and the Creed franchise takes a parallel step in his career, writing and directing an original film where he has free reign to develop the type of story he can call his own. Sinners is a cinematic spectacle that defies modern film expectations as to where it settles among audiences and the industry. Where some films set in the 1930s American South can appear black and white, Coogler brings a heightened sense of drama and commentary on an American story, sinking his teeth into vampire lore and the supernatural to tell the most real of stories.
Sammie is a musician with the power to join his community together in their hunger for great blues music, so much so that even their ancestors from the past and future rise up at the sound of his guitar. When his cousins Smoke and Stack ride into town after purchasing an abandoned saw mill turned juke joint, it appears to be a crucial step in giving their community a place to dance, drink, and bask in the beauty of music together. On opening night of the joint, Remmick, an Irish immigrant, and two Klansmen show up at their door looking to join the party. With the sun well down past the horizon, creatures of the supernatural may be just what the party is missing.
“It was the last time I saw my brother… The last time I saw the Sun.”
—Sinners (2025) dir. Ryan Coogler pic.twitter.com/3suTEGVpj9
— The Cinéprism (@TheCineprism) April 20, 2025
Sinners is one of the greatest achievements in film this decade in its ability to capture and explore deep racial commentaries while possessing incredible technical filmmaking. Coogler has developed a strong narrative that touches on community versus freedom through its chosen time period and story elements. Its implementation of vampire lore and the creatures’ desire to infiltrate anyone and everyone creates a comparison between the two villainous groups in the film. Where vampires almost always are the adversaries in their own and other’s stories, Coogler puts this to the test in Sinners by displaying their obvious violent nature but also their ability to offer a sense of freedom and acceptance to the film’s protagonists.
Through its highly entertaining take on the vampire genre, Sinners also uses music and culture as a significant point of interest. It connects with the film’s script on the surface as the vampires attempt to infiltrate the community partying at the juke joint but also examines the future infiltration of rhythm and blues and its deep connection to Black culture. Where the vampires see fresh blood they can use to strengthen their own line, we as an audience are able to connect how this mirrors how the origin of blues was also taken and built off of by those looking to make it their own off the backs of Black musicians. Coogler doesn’t stop there but also uses music to create one of the most breathtaking scenes in the last few decades with unreal sound design and direction.
No one can resist #SinnersMovie. Get a taste of the #1 MOVIE IN AMERICA only in theaters and @IMAX NOW. Get tickets: https://t.co/WzS6zgBr4o pic.twitter.com/MNBUkefXkV
— SinnersMovie (@SinnersMovie) April 23, 2025
Without a doubt, Sinners also knows how to have fun with its audience in conjunction with its astounding filmmaking and deep commentary. Coogler sets the scene vividly in Mississippi and through his characters before he dives into any vampire shenanigans. The entire cast is magnificent in their respective parts and as a group, giving extra credit to Miles Caton, being his first acting role.
The entirety of Sinners captures its audience and spellbinds them in its portrayal of the real world and the supernatural world. In this way, Coogler is able to develop a horror film in the vampire genre while also breaking out of the genre in a way that places it in its own category as one of the best achievements in cinema in quite some time. Sinners is well on its way to achieving immense box office success along with critic and audience praise all due to Coogler’s obvious talent and vision that is making him one of the most sought after men in the industry.
‘Sinners’ Rating – 5/5
Follow Steph (the Author) on IG – @cinemasteph_7
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