‘Sinners’ Review – Horror and History Collide in Ryan Coogler’s Ambitious Vampire Epic

It’s not the horror that unites the densely packed themes and worldbuilding in writer-director Ryan Coogler‘s first genre feature, Sinners, but the music. The opening preamble sets up the horror that won’t arrive until much later, establishing that, rarely, a musician comes along with talent so great that their music can pierce the veil between the living and the dead. That it can be a beacon for evil. That’s exactly what happens, of course, but it’s merely one component of Coogler’s engrossing epic that’s so ambitious in form and scale that it firmly holds you in its grip from the outset and never lets go.

The premise is deceptively simple: twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan in dual roles) return to their hometown in Mississippi, bringing their acquired wealth from their seven-year stint with mob life in Al Capone-era Chicago to start up a juke joint. Their looming horror means that the juke joint’s opening night will descend into violence, but Coogler staves off the inevitable to fully immerse audiences in this character-forward, richly textured world. Once the requisite horror teases are out of the way, Sinners settles into an infectious rhythm as Smoke and Stack set about enlisting friends to assist with their juke joint’s big debut, including the key musician with talent so great that it’ll summon a supernatural threat: the twins’ younger cousin Sammie, with powerhouse singer Miles Caton making an impressive acting debut here.

MICHAEL B. JORDAN as Smoke and as Stack, in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

The twins also corral the booze-loving and scene-stealing comedic relief Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) for additional music, Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) as security, and town grocers Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo Chow (Yao) to supply essentials like food. The twins and young Sammie also find themselves navigating love during their prep work, with Sammie immediately smitten by married singer Pearline (Jayme Lawson). While Sammie’s sparks of romance are new, the twins find themselves reopening old wounds with former lovers Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) and Mary (Hailee Steinfeld). As if it’s not already clear, this robust ensemble provides an awe-inducing amount of depth. Each is so distinctive in personality and background that the twins’ juke joint becomes a textured melting pot and its music a unifier. Smoke and Stack become a grounding anchor in a large-scale epic despite its primarily single location, with Jordan immersing himself so fully in both parts that the brothers feel like two complex, complementary halves of a whole.

It’s the characters that provide most of the worldbuilding, and Ryan Coogler’s writing ensures their dialogue is as instrumental to fleshing out this complex world as the setting itself. Even seemingly inconsequential lines of dialogue matter, whether through a larger payoff later or further fleshing out the period or its characters. What’s even more stirring is how well-researched and thought out the period setting and historical details are; the end credits reflect this with an ample slate of consultants that contributed to everything from Annie’s Hoodoo practices to historical gambling (credited to Lindo). All of this to reiterate that Coogler nearly makes you forget that Sinners is destined to become a horror spectacle; it’s so absorbing as a confident period drama with slick cinematic style and charismatic, lived-in characters.

(L to r) PETER DREIMANIS as Bert, JACK O’CONNELL as Remmick, HAILEE STEINFELD as Mary, and LOLA KIRKE as Joan in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

The arrival of Remmick (Jack O’Connell) does signal the shift into horror in earnest, further highlighting the prevalent themes of duality, temptation, and loss. It’s here where Coogler cuts loose, delivering no shortage of raucous spectacle as the filmmaker leans into obvious sources of inspiration like From Dusk Till Dawn and Salem’s Lot. Coogler assuredly wrings thrills and suspense from familiar vampire horror but makes it feel fresh in the way that Sinners seamlessly integrates it into a dizzyingly complex world of Jim Crow-era oppression, personal crossroads, forbidden romance, prohibition escapism, and, of course, the blues. Remmick himself makes for a rather bland villain, but it’s offset by the unique temptation he offers in this setting and the go-for-broke tactics he takes. Sinners is the type of movie that will explore grief with heartbreaking emotion in one breath and feature a swirling Irish vampire jig in the next. It’s this type of cross-pollination between prestige cinema and blockbuster-style entertainment that makes Coogler’s latest feel innovative and daring.

The careful curation of character-building pays off dividends. When the horror kicks into high gear, the deaths come fast and furious. And the deaths devastate. Coogler’s first foray into horror shows a keen understanding that the key ingredient to ensuring the scares land and the suspense leaves you on edge is making you care about the characters. It makes for one of the more satisfying third acts to come along in a while, continuing through the end credits and even post-credits.

MICHAEL B. JORDAN as Smoke in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

All of it goes back to the music. Sammie, caught between his love of music and duty to his preacher father, creates music so soulful that it blurs time and calls to humans and vampires alike. It’s music that connects a sprawling period drama to an energetic horror blockbuster. Composer Ludwig Göransson‘s score is even a unifier, effortlessly combining R&B, gospel, and guitar-heavy blues into a cohesive, earworm whole. It rips through time, merging modern filmmaking sensibilities with history in exhilarating ways. Music is a conduit in Sinners, making for an electric, lively first horror effort from Ryan Coogler. Here’s to hoping it’s far from the last.

Sinners releases in theaters on April 18, 2025.

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