Review: Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' a mix of blood, Blues and brilliance

Warner Bros. Pictures, 2025.

Horror films rarely resonate as award-worthy movies...not to mention how rare it is to see any Spring release at all turn up on a "Best of" list come year-end. That's what makes "Sinners" such a rarity. Not only is it one of the best mainstream horror films in years, it's already one of the year's best films. In fact, I can't think of a scenario where it wouldn't be on my personal "Best Movies of 2025" list.

It's well-made, well-acted and features one of the most kick-ass scores - and scenes - you'll ever witness. While the plot, characters and devices aren't wholly original, it's mashed together with such conviction that it feels wholly original. And it's not easy for a movie to work simultaneously on many different levels, but "Sinners" does. It can be enjoyed by horror enthusiasts, as popcorn entertainment or as a good date night out. But its complex themes can also be dissected by film critics and historians, made in a way where multiple viewings might be required to pick up on every nuance or metaphor.

Make no mistake, "Sinners" is bold and bloody, and bound to bring comparisons to Robert Rodriguez's "From Dusk Till Dawn" as it seems to shift midway through from intriguing drama to gory vampire romp. But it's far from mindless...you'll be thinking about this one for a long time afterwards.

Grade: A

Written and directed by Ryan Coogler ("Black Panther," "Creed," "Fruitvale Station"), "Sinners" is set in the deep South in the late 1930s at the height of Jim Crow. Twin brothers (played by Coogler's main muse, Michael B. Jordan) known as the SmokeStack Twins, have arrived back home after years away up in Chicago, where it is more than implied that they had ran as gangsters under Al Capone. With stolen money from their previous employer, they're now looking to open up a new place where folks can gather for a drink and some dancing. They purchase an old warehouse on the outskirts of town from a racist businessman, but the Klu Klux Klan ends up being the least of their worries.

Before we meet the SmokeStack Twins, the film opens with a scene where a bloody musician, still gripping a broken guitar in his mangled hand, arrives to his father's church. "If you dance with the devil long enough, he may just follow you home," his father says. The music and some shocking jump cuts let us know that there is something sinister at play here. The movie then flashes back to one day earlier, where the Twins are compiling some of their old friends to come work opening night at their new gin joint.

The musician, their cousin Sammy (Miles Caton), is brought on, along with the village drunk (Delroy Lindo), who also happens to be one of the best Blues harmonica players the town's ever known. The gentle giant Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) is hired as bouncer, and an old flame (Hailee Steinfeld) inserts herself into the situation. We learn that one of the Twins has an ex-wife (Wunmi Mosaku, in a break-through role) and that they had a shared tragedy in their former life together.

Because of the setup in the film's opening scene, we know things will end up swerving at some point. But the first half of the film plays more like a drama, and spends a lot of timing setting up these characters without really letting on as to where things are headed. When things do eventually turn, the energy of the film is ramped up to an 11 and there's payoff after payoff.

One of the main draws of the film is the gritty Delta Blues score provided to us by 
Ludwig Goransson, a two-time Academy Award Winner who may very well be on his way to number three. He previously won for crafting the score to "Oppenheimer" as well as winning for "Black Panther," where he once again worked under Coogler's direction.

Music is not just an accessory here, but one of the vital themes of the movie. Any fan of the Blues knows that one the main ingredients of the genre is pain, and when we meet Sammy, he is ridiculed for how young he is. How could he have possibly lived long enough to experience what the Blues represent? "Boy, I have socks older than you," Delroy Lindo's character tells him at one point. Using vampires, Coogler exposes Sammy to such horrific atrocities, that it would come as no surprise at all if he were to become a great, authentic Blues musician one day...should he survive this ordeal.

As the film describes, a musician of such greatness only comes around every so often throughout history...a musician so talented that he/she attracts the attention of spirits from the past as well as from the future. They make such a cosmic ruckus, that evil spirits are lured in as well. Well, the very best scene in "Sinners" is an epic dance sequence, with Goransson's score blaring, where Coogler interprets this literally. As the folk dance to Sammy's jam, we start to see ancient Africans with drums, as well as futuristic guitarists mixed in amongst them. It's a sort of ethereal, transcendent sequence, and one of the most powerful and memorable scenes in any movie in any year. It's also a stark reminder that Coogler is a daring visionary..."Sinners" is a lot of things, but "safe" is not one of them.

There are so many more thematic elements left to discover, that I look forward to discussing the film online and finding out how others interpret different parts of the whole. To me, "Sinners" was only surprising in how deeply it made me feel things...I was sort of vibrating with emotions on my way out of the theater.

What wasn't surprising - or shouldn't be at least - is that "Sinners" is just the latest example of Ryan Coogler's brilliance and bravery as a filmmaker.

"Sinners" isn’t just a horror movie—it’s Ryan Coogler using the genre as a vessel to confront the weight of generational trauma, faith, and survival within the African-American experience. His voice remains one of the most vital in modern cinema: Fearless, rooted, and unafraid. In Coogler’s hands, horror becomes heritage, metaphor becomes melody, and bloodshed becomes poetry.​

Grade: A

Genre: Drama, Horror, Action.
Run Time: 2 hours 17 minutes.
Rated R.

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O'Connell, Omar Benson Miller, Wunmi Mosaku.

Written and Directed by Ryan Coogler ("Black Panther," "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," "Creed," "Fruitvale Station").

"Sinners" is in theaters everywhere on Friday, April 18th, 2025.