Sinners Film Review: A Genre-Bending Epic with a Powerful Message
The highly anticipated film, Sinners, has notched the biggest opening weekend for an original movie since the start of the pandemic, and it’s easy to see why. Directed by Ryan Coogler, this period-set vampire movie starring Michael B Jordan has been making waves with its unique blend of genres and thought-provoking themes.
According to a review by The Guardian, Sinners is a "relatively leisurely crime-adjacent drama" that seamlessly transitions into a horror movie, complete with vampires, action, and suspense. The film follows brothers Smoke and Stack, both played by Jordan, as they attempt to build a juke joint for their Mississippi community, only to have it disrupted by supernatural forces.
One of the standout aspects of Sinners is its use of genre-bending storytelling. Coogler’s film defies categorization, blending elements of crime dramas, horror movies, and musicals to create a truly unique viewing experience. As The Guardian notes, "Coogler in his very form seems to reject the hard lines of separation that audiences sometimes want to impose on material like this – which is a particularly interesting technique for him, given the movie’s complicated portrayal of cultural blending."
The film also features a standout performance from Michael B Jordan, who plays dual roles as Smoke and Stack. While the actor’s charisma is undeniable, his dual performance is more dependent on his movie star presence than nuanced acting tricks. As The Guardian observes, "Jordan and Coogler use the characters’ twinning in a more mythology-friendly way; in retrospect, it feels inevitable that one brother will be turned into a vampire and the other will remain human, a neat angel/devil separation that the movie, again, complicates in its final stretch."
Music plays a pivotal role in Sinners, with Coogler staging an impressive sequence that showcases the ecstasy of music and its connection to the supernatural. The film’s use of music is not just a plot device, but a way to explore themes of cultural identity and community. As The Guardian notes, "The music at the center of Sinners is given a divine-like connection to the other side; it ‘pierces the veil’ and seemingly attracts the attention of the lead vampire Remmick."
The film’s exploration of racial politics and assimilation is also noteworthy. The vampires in Sinners can be seen as a metaphor for cultural vampirism, drawn to the allure of Black music and culture, but ultimately seeking to control and assimilate it. As The Guardian observes, "The vampires preach the value of, essentially, a hive mind that they claim offers equality for all – the drawback being, of course, that said hive mind is also controlled by its originator, not by the people absorbed into it."
Sinners features multiple endings, which may seem like a gimmick, but ultimately serve to underscore the film’s themes of identity, community, and the power of music. As The Guardian notes, "Coogler takes a lot of care with his movements through ending; I used the novelistic ‘epilogue’ above, but maybe it’s more akin to a musical coda. Either way, it allows the audience to rethink the monstrousness of Stack (and, to perhaps a lesser extent, his vampire bride Mary), who seems to have freed himself from the assimilation of the head vampire and pursued his own form of immortality."
In conclusion, Sinners is a film that defies easy categorization, blending genres and themes to create a unique and thought-provoking viewing experience. With its powerful performances, stunning visuals, and exploration of complex themes, Sinners is a must-see for fans of cinema. As The Guardian concludes, "Maybe that final bonus moment of Sammie singing a song of optimism (contrasting with the devil-raising bliss of the blues) is supposed to be a compromise, or maybe it’s a way of wresting the ‘devil’s music’ back for humanity. Regardless, the multiple endings are thematically appropriate; even as he teases out a sense of sadness over what’s been lost, Coogler understands that there’s no one single way this story ends."
The article was originally published in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/22/sinners-discuss-spoilers
