‘Sinners’ Movie Review

“Sinners” is a film about the son of a preacher named Sammie — played by Miles Canton —  who works on a plantation in Clarksdale Mississippi in the late 1930s. 

Sammie is invited by his twin cousins, Smoke and Stack — both of whom are played by Michael B. Jordan — to play guitar at a new juke joint that they are opening. 

Sammie and the other patrons of the joint find out that Sammie has the gift of calling on both past and future spirits with his musical talents. 

However, these musical abilities also attract an ancient vampire by the name of Remmick — played by Jack O’Connel. After changing nearly everyone inside the juke joint into a vampire, Remmick uses a multitude of tricks to try and lure the remaining patrons out of the building. 

The bloody final battle of the film leaves Sammie and one of the twins — Smoke — as the only survivors of the massacre. It’s an ending that nearly brought me to tears when I first watched it. 

“Sinners” can be best described as a Southern gothic movie. It integrates elements of Southern African American culture in ways I’ve never seen accurately depicted on the big screen. 

Playing off the folktales of musicians selling their souls to the devil for amazing musical capabilities, “Sinners” portrays the powerful connection between music and spirituality. 

The film’s opening monologue — voiced by Wunmi Mosaku’s character Annie — gives a bit of historical and cultural context. In it, the narrator talks about how throughout time, across all different societies, there have been musicians with gifts powerful enough to bridge the spirits of past, present and future. 

This plot point returns later in the film, during a part the internet has unanimously  dubbed as “that” scene. 

During “that” scene, Sammie begins to sing an original song titled “I Lied to You,” in which he’s apologizing to his father for going behind his back to sing the blues at the juke joint. 

While playing, Sammie begins to bridge the metaphorical gap in space and time, connecting the people in the juke joint to their ancestors and descendants. 

In one of the best scenes that I’ve ever witnessed, musicians and dancers across different time periods and cultures begin to appear in the joint, representing an ancestor and descendant of each of the main cast. 

Alongside the choreography, the soundtrack absolutely blew me away. Composer Ludwig Göransson has worked with director Ryan Coogler on nearly all of his feature films, and his talent certainly shines through in this movie. 

Much like how Coogler’s vision blends elements from different cultures and time periods, Göransson’s score takes musical elements from those cultures and integrates them into Sammie’s song. 

From talking drums to West Coast synths, bounce beats and electric guitar, there was truly no stone left unturned when portraying the source material and the inspired works of the blues. 

While more and more people are willing to acknowledge that many modern music practices derived from the blues, I felt like that scene solidified that fact. Seeing aspects of hip hop being included in “that” scene made me feel seen and validated so many of my culture insecurities. 

The entire soundtrack is worth multiple listens. Songs like “Pale Pale Moon” and “Rocky Road to Dublin” were immediate bangers for me. The score is rich and complex, using leitmotifs for characters who are associated with certain main songs. 

When I watched “Sinners” the second time, I perked up at the sound of Sammies' and Remmick’s themes being introduced during the earlier part of the film. 

Much of the music contains stringed instruments to reflect the music of that specific region and time. It makes the film feel country, but not in an over-the-top manner. 

Another element of the film that I very much enjoyed was the incorporation of Hoodoo into the main plot. For those who aren’t aware, Hoodoo is a magic practice and religion that utilizes elements of Voodoo, Christianity and Rootwork into its practice. 

Having originated in the American South from African slaves, it makes sense for a movie about supernatural beings set in that location to include Hoodoo. 

The character Annie is a rootworker who is Smoke’s love interest in Clarksdale. Throughout the film, her intuition and knowledge of different kinds of magic and folktales helps keep the main cast out of trouble on multiple occasions. 

She’s the one who realizes that the main antagonists are vampires and immediately instructs everyone how to kill them.

The inclusion of Hoodoo in a major blockbuster movie is always fun to witness, especially when it isn’t demonized or heavily implied to deal with evil spirits. 

Its representation in media thus far has led to many misconceptions about the practice, leading many people to declare it as demonic. On the flip side, others reduce the practice to a fun little hobby that doesn’t have real-world implications or consequences. 

Moving onto the performances, the two standout actors, in my opinion, are Miles Caton and Michael B. Jordan. While I had no doubt that Jordan was a good actor, I think this role really solidified him as a household name for my generation and generations to come. 

Both his character’s Smoke and Stack felt like entirely different people, with blatant and subtle characteristics that always made it easy to differentiate the two, such as their speech habits, mannerisms and personalities. 

While Smoke — the serious one — is definitely my favorite character, Stack provided much of the comedic relief throughout the film. 

Although this is Caton’s first film,  he did an amazing job playing Sammie. The actor is pretty young — 20 years old — so it’s fitting that he would play a youthful character like Sammie, and he is able to portray the character’s naivety and “innocence” with ease.

Acting talent aside, Caton’s voice is beautiful. His voice has a deep and full timbre that rings clear both in the movie and in real life. Listening to “I Lied To You” leaves me with chills every time I hear it, and dare I say, it makes me feel the same type of spiritual connection that is described in the film.  

Finally, discussing the writing and cinematography, Coogler is truly a master at his craft. He’s always had a talent for capturing the emotional intensity of his film’s situations, and he does that with “Sinners” phenomenally. 

There are moments where the characters’ interactions tell the audience everything they need to know about their feelings without ever saying a word, and his direction and writing coupled with the performances sells everything. 

There are a handful of long takes in the movie, and they're all executed well. Especially in the jukejoint scene, having so many moving parts and elements included in just one take is an incredible feat in itself and could be its own short film. 

I’ve seen quite a few people online claiming that Ryan Coogler is a griot — storytellers of West African origin — due to how well executed this movie was, and I wholeheartedly agree with that. Anyone who hasn’t seen “Sinners” yet should definitely give it a watch.