In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, the bloodsucking count hears a group of wolves howling and famously says, “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!” Vampirism and music have been intertwined for over a century, but Ryan Coogler’s Sinners may be the first film to understand what makes the connection so intoxicating and dangerous.
Churches sing the same hymns that have been sung for hundreds of years, choirs across the globe pass down traditional pieces of music year after year, and every so often, we’ll get a song that will transcend language barriers and be simultaneously performed on different continents. That type of power — capable of unifying and freeing — is unimaginable, and one that only the most perilous would ever attempt to harvest and harness for their own selfish desires.
No wonder white people are constantly stealing from Black musicians.
In Sinners, Michael B. Jordan stars in a dual role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who have returned to their hometown in the Jim Crow-era South to open up a juke joint after hitting it big in Chicago. After purchasing property from a racist landowner, they intend to make a secular gathering space “for us, by us” and work quickly to find the best musical acts in the area to give the party its sound.
Blues musician Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), gifted vocalist Pearline (Jayme Lawson), and The Twins’ cousin Sammie (a standout Miles Caton) — the son of a preacher who is a gifted guitar player — are invited to perform, while supplies are provided by Grace and Bo Chow (Li Jun Li, Yao), food by one of The Twins’ former partners Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), with their old pal Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) serving as the bouncer at the door.
And then there’s Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), the former partner of one of The Twins whose presence as a white-passing woman with a Black grandfather at the party is vital to the impending bloodbath. Together, they all make for the strongest ensemble cast of the year thus far.
But there’s a sweaty, simmering tension gurgling beneath the surface as The Twins set up shop, as Coogler’s story never lets the audience forget that this is a community of people making the best of a life lived under legalized segregation and racialized oppression. If you know your American history, part of the edge-of-your-seat anticipation is wondering not if something bad is going to happen to these characters, but when… and that’s before the supernatural element of Irish folk singing vampires show up (led by a devilishly great Jack O’Connell) and aggressively thrust Sinners into the horror genre.
Vampirism has been used as an allegory for “otherness” since its inception, but rather than reclaim “the Other” as a statement of empowerment for those incorrectly cast off by society as is the popular trend du jour, Sinners boldly examines the impact of what happens when the Other is not a misunderstood outcast but instead a genuine threat whose corruptive infiltration only leads to death and destruction.
Assimilation is not the answer to liberation, and seductive promises of immortality should scare us as much as a fanged smile with red-glowing eyes. By using the traditional “rules” of vampirism (namely, that vampires can only enter a space once they’ve been invited inside), Sinners paints a captivating portrait of the resilience, love, and joy found in Black communities while highlighting the world-altering art they’ve created, without downplaying the bloodshed, violence, and full-throated bigotry endured along the way.
Perhaps by portraying the villains as literal fucking white vampires trying to invade their space (and the space of Indigenous communities) to steal their power and take over the world will be what it takes for ignorant fools to recognize how horrific American history actually was, while also realizing how much beauty was fostered despite it.
Even better, the biting social commentary at the heart of Coogler’s screenplay is nestled by one of the most well-crafted films in recent memory. The production design is impeccable, the camera work of Autumn Durald Arkapaw delivers a feast for the eyes, and Ludwig Göransson is undoubtedly looking at another Oscar nomination for the current frontrunner for Best Score of 2025.
In one sweeping scene (you’ll know it when you see it), the film builds into a lush frenzy of cinematic elements that is so overwhelming and so hypnotic, it becomes impossible not to fully give yourself over to it. It’s the rare story that successfully transports the audience into the world of the film, not as a form of escapism but total immersion. If you have the ability to see the film in IMAX, do it. It isn’t often that a horror movie demands to be seen on the largest screen possible, but Sinners deserves it.
Taste is subjective, but for my money, Sinners is currently Coogler’s magnum opus, and I can’t help but think he’s only just getting started. This isn’t only one of the best horror films of the year, it’s one of the best films, period. If any horror flick is going to follow in the path of The Substance in Oscar contention, it’s this one.
