Sinners (2025)

Watched 4/17/25 (theater)

There is way too much going on in Sinners. That’s a negative. Ryan Coogler, after a decade of living in IP franchise world, getting paid but probably having some annoying suit tell him what he can and can’t put in the movies, seems like he just threw everything he had at Sinners, perhaps frustrated that he hadn’t been able to get all of this out before or worried he may not get another chance in the future. A lot of it is not as smooth as reviews across the internet may have you believe. It is an uneven, bumpy ride with some major flaws. Much like my feelings toward last year’s The Brutalist, though, these bumps come with some of the highest, most imaginative highs of the last few years.

Perhaps the best compliment I can pay to this movie is that it feels wholly original. Even before vampires show up, Sinners is like nothing I have ever seen before. I can tell you for a fact there has never been a manor Mississippi-set movie about 1930s gangsters and blues. Or if there has, it certainly didn’t feature vampires and one of Hollywood’s most exciting actors as the “Smokestack Twins” (yes, you read that right—it rules). Much like the spectacle of Dune Part Two or the combat of Rebel Ridge last year, Sinners even more than those two is a calling card of innovation. Ryan Coogler clearly researched the hell out of this and creates a world so full-bodied that you almost wish you could live in it for another hour. In fact, the world-building and character interactions in the first 90 minutes of Sinners are so dang compelling that when the movie turns into a creature feature (which is actually what I was most excited for going in), it’s a little bit disappointing that you don’t get to see more of the main characters in their natural habitats.

Michael B. Jordan’s Smokestack Twins are the highlight of the motion picture. Their differences are layered and their chemistry shockingly well-realized. It to me is easily Jordan’s career-best work, disappearing into two extremely memorable roles that also happen to just be badass and fun. Real movie star shit. There are a few things with the brothers that I wish had been more consistently and fully written, such as their affinity for numbers, which goes nowhere later when they have a moment of panic from seemingly losing an ungodly amount of money through the party they throw? Or this instantly-iconic (but not!) brass knuckle knife Stack carries that plays a large role in the beginning of the movie and then disappears. Or most importantly, their relationships with two former loves, Mary and Annie (played by Hailee Steinfeld and Wunmi Mosaku, respectively).

The first 90 minutes of Sinners in general are filled with such a wealth of lingo and rhythm—everything from the Smokestack Twins’ profanity-and-violence-laden antics to Preacher Boy’s (newcomer Miles Caton) original music to Delroy Lindo and Omar Benson Miller’s delightful comic relief. These characters feel so real, which is why it’s a bummer that so much during this 90 minutes is told instead of showed. In particular, relationships/character development are the lacking party here. Hailee Steinfeld (who is in way over her head with the southern accent and brash personality she takes on…she is the weak link of the movie…she kind of stinks) tells Stack over and over that she loves him but we never get to see why. Wunmi Mosaku, who is frickin awesome as this magic witch doctor of sorts, tells Smoke she loves him over and over, but we never get to see why. Smoke and Stack get roped into dryly monologuing about their pro-corporal-punishment Dad over and over and how that played out. This movie is desperately missing an hour of “15 years earlier” setup. And the tough part is I bet Coogler had done that homework. The movie’s already 2 hours and 15 minutes/$90 million dollars as is, though. And there just doesn’t appear to have been enough room.

I almost wish that this had been a book instead of a movie. No…run that back because then we wouldn’t get the sick performances that so strongly elevate this project in this medium. I guess I hope Coogler pulls a Tarantino ala Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and writes a novelization down the road to flesh out more of this backstory. Because with all of its transporting vocabulary, large-scale ensemble, and expansive plot machinations, this story feels like an epic American novel adapted to the screen and trimmed down because of the limitations of the format. There’s even an entire KKK sideplot that takes a clear backseat for much of the movie and is unfortunately shortchanged just when it gets most exciting with a really well-staged but seemingly almost tacked-on shootout. So there, that’s my biggest gripe. We needed way more time for this ambitious blueprint Coogler put to paper.

Then there’s the aforementioned vampire angle that acts as the catalyst to get to the third act of the film. It’s awkwardly set up through an in-media-res opening and a janky, extraneous villain introduction that comes an hour into the movie with no warning. Jack O’Connell gives a good performance as the lead vampire, Remmick, but he couldn’t rescue the transition for me. My hottest take is this would have been a better movie if it was just about these bootlegger twins and their ensemble versus the KKK introduced early on. Skip the vampires altogether. They show up too late and the eventual siege that takes place, vamps vs blues enthusiasts, while competent, is nowhere near the breath of fresh air that the bulk of the movie’s drama and music is. That’s one thing I didn’t mention—this is also very much a musical. Not in the stagey classical Hollywood sense. But more a movie about music. It feels strange, you may notice, when they tie through clunky, quick exposition, this music to the vampires’ arrival on scene. Sinners posits that such transcendent, spiritual music can attract the wrong kind of supernatural beings.

There’s an honorable attempt at social subtext through making the vampires take on an Irish identity and thus inheriting a similar hatred to the black community. This conceit has enough subtlety to work on its own terms, but it just feels largely unnecessary and distracting from the electric immersion of the main ensemble. If the action were up to the same quality as the world-building, perhaps I would give this curveball more of a pass. But the sound mixing and fight choreography of the vampire scenes is just a 6.5/10–no more no less. At least you care about the characters when they start getting killed off, but I think that Coogler succeeds far more with the aforementioned KKK shootout in terms of action filmmaking. I would have just kept it straightforward and set the main conflict with them.

The real part that holds me back from loving this movie and instead just liking it a lot despite its flaws, is that lack of memorable action. And, just as critically, the lack of tension that Coogler struggles with in the leadups to these setpieces. Even when people are turning into vampires and are locked in rooms, there’s a missing piece in that Coogler does not shoot and edit his shots together in a way that befits the fear that characters and the audience should be feeling. Interactions with bad guys come and go quickly. To (re-)cite a recent example that I wish Coogler had tried to emulate more, Jeremy Saulnier’s direction and cutting of Rebel Ridge. There’s such a clenched-jaw, sweaty-palm buildup to every single standoff in that movie, which features very similarly-staged standoffs. Sinners just lacks the buildup. Everything action-wise happens too fast. And the sound design wasn’t there, either. I saw this in Dolby and kept waiting for bone-crunching punches or seat-shaking gunfire…but neither ever came. That’s a bad beat when your movie is sold on violent conflict.

When the main issue is resolved, there’s quite a bit of “semi-loose” ends that the movie feels obligated to tie up. And none of those really hit for me in the cathartic sense. That KKK shootout, again, is well-photographed, but lacks the wow factor in its sound and feel and just comes up as really random at that point in the story. It really only serves to kill off a main character and close his loop. Then there’s the credits scenes that feel more than extra… Did not add anything but bloat for me.

There’s probably much more to write about how confidently Coogler is able to create memorable personalities and a sense of place. It’s truly a bolt of lightning I didn’t know he could throw. And I enjoyed the absolute hell out of much of this movie, even when it wasn’t all gelling. The individual components—I didn’t even mention Coogler’s stab at artsy subversion with the central musical/time travel setpiece—are fascinating and discouraging. And the assembly is raw. It’s a real mixed bag. But some of those parts are really firing on all cylinders. And I hope to God this guy gets to make another original movie soon. Or at least write that Sinners book!!

7.5/10