Sinners (2025) - Movie Review

The Movie: Sinners

The Director: Ryan Coogler

The Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo

The Story: Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

The Rating: 9 / 10

The Review:

What Ryan Coogler has done here is just as game changing and innovative and entertaining as what he did with Black Panther. Sure, it's a completely different type of story and it's a completely different type of storytelling but it is just as impactful and maybe just as important. As I'm writing this review, I can easily say that Sinners is the best movie I've seen this year and, while I'm not sure if that will hold through to the end of the year, it will certainly remain in consideration.

"We're all sinners."

Coogler and company show us why that statement is true in a multitude of ways over the course of the film and if anyone tries to argue that, they're just proving the statement to be correct. The story is a 1930's black western politically and culturally charged horror movie and it does all of those things very well and combines them all in a very thorough and authentic way. Racism, classism, sexism, and lots of other isms are covered in various contexts, of course with an emphasis on how black people continued and continue to fight an extremely uphill battle in the post slavery era.

I will say that the first half of the movie may feel a bit slow, especially if you have the expectation that this is an action movie of any type. There is action, yes and when it hits, it really hits hard, but the genius is in the build up and how Coogler lays the groundwork for everything that ends up taking place. As usual, I'm not going to dive into the details because spoilers and because I want this tale to unravel into your brain the same way it did for me. It's very smart, very well acted, and it is a visually stunning work of art.

Speaking of the acting, this is a Ryan Coogler movie so of course Michael B Jordan is on board and honestly, this may be some of his best work yet, especially considering he is playing both parts of the twin brothers that lead a pretty extraordinary cast of characters. Delroy Lindo is also in the movie and his performance is so strong, he carries almost every scene he's in. Seriously, his career keeps getting better and better with this movie following up great work in both Da 5 Bloods and The Harder They Fall. I'm not going to name everyone that I felt did a great job because pretty much everyone did a great job but I will mention Hailee Steinfeld and Li Jun Li as standouts along with a very strong debut from Miles Caton who is so new he doesn't even have a bio posted on his IMDB page.

There is a scene I have to touch on that had me absolutely in a state of "oh my wow, this is happening!" because of just how brilliant and mind blowing it is. It would either fall into the end of the second act or the beginning of the third and it's basically a musical number that interweaves genres and eras of black music into a fantastical feast of music and dance and sweat and rhythm and emotion and history and I want all of it to live in my head forever. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it and this is exactly why Ryan Coogler is quickly becoming one of the best, most innovative, and authentic story tellers in the business.

Also, please take a few minutes to watch this video created by Ryan Coogler that explains the different film formats and how each one has distinct differences and advantages. It's a ten minute video and every second is worth watching because of how plain and simple he explains film types and aspect ratios. It'll help you decide where best to spend your money to see this movie as well as give you a better overall understanding of how movie theaters and the projectors they have can differ with IMAX being a prime example. 

After all that, yes this is a vampire movie and it's a damn good one. It reminds me a little bit of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Til Dawn although not nearly as much of that pulpy grindhouse style, I mean more like how visually striking and in your face the movie is. There's a lot of blood from vampire bites, gunshot wounds, and lots of stabbing of all kinds so be prepared for that. Coogler takes his sweet time getting to all the gorey action but, when he does, the payoff is extremely satisfying.

Another thing I loved about the movie is how much lore and history is baked into the story which really makes all the characters and places and experiences feel real in the same way that Coogler made us all feel that Wakanda is a real place in the real world even with so many fantastic elements already in place. Same thing here. I feel like this movie is an action packed history lesson wrapped in gothic fantasy and by the time it was finished I wanted to see more and learn more and I wanted to know more about all these people's lives. From an intellecual property perspective, there could definitely be a lot more to tell here and I really hope that Coogler gets to explore this world further in future films. 

Before I forget, big shout outs to composer Ludwig Göransson for another brlliant score, he's also been responsible for both Black Panther movies, The Mandalorian, Oppenheimer, and many other great musical compositions, as well as cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw for making this movie a visual feast that demands to be seen on the biggest format screen you can find. She also worked with Coogler on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and she was also the director of photography for the first season of the Loki Disney+ series. I also have to note that she is the first woman, she is also of both Filipino and Black descent, to shoot a large-format IMAX feature film so just add that to the list of groundbreaking achievements for her and for every one of Coogler's films.

It's been a while since I've felt the need to write this much about a movie in one of my reviews and there's a lot of things I'm not really knowledgeable enough to try and discuss in detail so I'm going to leave those things to people who are much smarter than I am. Things like the cultural nuances and historical references and how music, and specifically the Blues, is such an integral and essential part of the Black experience in American history.

The main thing that I want you to take away from reading my thought here is that this is more than a just movie, it's a true cinematic experience. This is a prime example of why movie theaters are an irreplaceable form of entertainment. I don't care how fancy you think your setup is at home. Go see Sinners in a movie theater and stay all the way through to the end of the credits. There is a mid credits scene and a post credits scene and they are both worth the time.