I Finally Watched “Sinners” and Here’s What I Thought About It.

“Sinners” got me quite hooked and in an anticipatory mood when I first viewed the trailer on Tiktok. I mean, I barely have time for movies now; let alone develop a fangirl’s fever ahead of a movie’s release (unless the movie is the live action adaptation of a timid viking boy and his dragon…). The premise of “Sinners” is pretty much simple but gives not much away in terms of the plot, with the movie following twin brothers, Elijah ‘Smoke’ and Elias ‘Stack’ who return to their Mississipi Delta hometown in 1932 to open a juke joint. Their attempt to leave behind a criminal past is confronted by a dangerous new force.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” stars Michael B Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, Miles Caton, Li Jun Li etc blending experienced hands and relatively unknown but talented faces. Jordan plays the characters of both twins and brings a distinct nuance between them whiles also exhibiting similarities that goes beyond facials to portray them as twin brothers.

Jordan easily steals the show in all the scenes he appears in(which is a lot) but the rest of the cast also carry their own weight, which leaves Sinners loaded with a wealth of impressive acting. Jack O’Connell doesn’t just play a generic villainous character, he imbues Remmick with a certain charismatic yet intimidating vibe whiles also oozing off a subtle tragic exterior.

The plot hooks you right from the onset, giving you an immmediate spoiler that the main character, Sammie (Miles Caton) will survive whatever mystery the story holds yet makes you immediately wonder what could possibly have happened to have left the young chap in such a state. I’ve always loved stories which keeps you glued to the screen and engaged right unto the end and this is one such example. I’ve always had issues getting through horror movies but this was a welcome exception. Nothing too gory and gruesome but just enough R-rated stuff to give you slight chills.

One of the things I loved the most was how Remmick wittingly or unwittingly became exactly what he hated. Through the backstory he narrated to Sammie (disdainfully) whiles giving him multiple ‘baptisms’, we learnt that Remmick was from a time where Christianity was forced upon his people and made to become a part of their daily lives. How different was he then from his Christian oppressors when he forcibly brought together a group of people to bond over a shared love for music by making them vampires. As to whether he meant to inflict the oppression he faced onto others or he unknowingly did that through his chase of a musical salvation wasn’t mentioned but seeing him like this was really fascinating.

Another memorable yet intriguing part of the movie was the questions left by Mary and Stack’s turning. Even though they had become murderous vampires bonded to Remmick, they both expressed shock and grief when Smoke mercy killed Annie. This brought about the question as to whether they retained parts of their humanity after their death and subsequent “vampirehood”. This is even more intriguing when you consider the fact that Bo didn’t express such sentiment and was willing to kill his beloved wife and daughter, just because Remmick wanted it. We’re given our answer in the mid credits when Stack revealed that he promised Smoke he wouldn’t come after Sammie, and he and Mary actually lived up to the promise, only showing up when Sammie had almost lived a full life.

The cinematography in “Sinners” is extremely rich, providing viewers with various visual treats including but not limited to, the death of Remmick, the musical performance of Sammie where spirits from the past and future all converged to dance among the folks, the humans vs vampire  battle, the Klan massacre etc. I wasn’t surprised especially when armed with the knowledge that director Ryan Coogler made the Black Panther movies, which you can all attest to its visual wealth.

You can label “Sinners” as also a musical and you wouldn’t be out of place. With much of the movie centering on music, all the sountracks performed in the movie were pleasant to listen to most especially “I lied” and “The Rocky Road to Dublin”. “The Rocky Road to Dublin” wasn’t just presented as a song but it gave more exposition to Remmick’s Irish background (ie. if you paid attention to the lyrics carefully). “I Lied” also presented the stark contrast in Sammie’s life, between living the life his father wants for him and following his passion and singing blues.

If you still have some qualms about whether to watch “Sinners” or not, I believe this talk would change that and encourage you to give it a try. Holding an impressive Rotten Tomato score of 97% and a current box office performance of $357.2 million (out of a $90 million budget), I also decide to give it a solid 9/10 rating and agree with the general assertion that this is the best movie of 2025 so far.

Written By Mr. Grande