The biggest news to absorb about the new vampire thriller — “Sinners,” written and directed by Ryan Coogler — is that this very gifted visual storyteller has created his own original Intellectual Property (IP), which has the power to transform his financial future from rich to wealthy. If for no other reason than that, you and your chosen tribe should descend on the movie theater like, well, a flock of bats (pun intended) on opening day (April 18), and return next month for a more affordable matinee.
This is a bold, well-planned, historical supernatural thriller about vampires—so vividly imagined and passionately presented that it may leave your jaw slack.
Set in the gritty Deep South in 1932, the story unfolds over 24 hours in the rural town of Clarksdale, Mississippi, home to hardworking sharecroppers, soulful blues singers, violent white supremacists, and longing lovers hoping for more than life has offered them. Enter the Smokestack twins—Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan)—who return home after fighting on the German front in World War I and spending time in Chicago, where they worked for Al Capone and learned firsthand how the underworld operates. These are clever men who don’t blink when faced with danger. Their résumé reads: hustlers, pimps, and killers.
Now, their sights are set on rebuilding their lives in their small hometown in the thick of Jim Crow America.
Reminder: Jordan plays both characters. Double the trouble. A testament to Coogler’s skill, he uses state-of-the-art digital techniques to present the twins together—passing a cigarette back and forth, finishing each other’s lines—flawlessly. Twins, yes. The same person, no. Smoke wears a blue British flat cap. Stack is flashier, in a red-brimmed hat with a smile framed by gold-lined teeth. Stack has empathy. Smoke does not.
This. Is. A. Horror. Movie. There’s blood. There’s violence. And, like the best horror films, there are deeper, universal themes beneath the surface. Sinners is about the wages of sin within the African American community—people stolen from Africa, trafficked and sold as property to make others wealthy. Disposable. Dehumanized. The film doesn’t flinch. It acknowledges the full scope of evil in this world—and especially in this country.
This is, after all, the land where, legend says, one can go to the crossroads and make a deal with the devil. That mythology is baked into African American cultural storytelling, and Sinners embraces it.
Music holds the emotional center of the film. It’s where the unspoken truths live. Enter Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), known as Preacher Boy—a young man whose talent defies explanation. When he sings the blues, it feels as if heaven and hell both pause to listen. He’s the twins’ cousin, and they hire him to perform at their juke joint alongside Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), a damaged harmonica and piano player who mostly plays in exchange for alcohol.
Now, about the man behind it all: Ryan Coogler. In just over a decade, he’s delivered Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed (2015), Black Panther (2018), and Wakanda Forever (2022). With Sinners, he levels up again—claiming new ground with original IP that is entirely his.
In interviews, Coogler has made it clear this film is personal. His vision is carried out through the lens of cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw. This is his fifth film with Michael B. Jordan, and their trust is evident. Jordan gives Smoke and Stack emotional weight. We believe these men are building something together. The juke joint is more than a club—it’s a symbol of purpose. And to make it work, they need to throw a party big enough to shake the night. That plan, however, draws in the wrong crowd—hungry, evil vampires. That part wasn’t in the business model.
The first hour of Sinners is world-building—and it’s a brilliant choice. Coogler knows that if you don’t care about the characters, nothing in Act Two will matter. But it hits—and hard.
Some critics may argue that watching the Smokestack twins spend an entire afternoon prepping their juke joint is a waste of screen time. They would be wrong. People show up to help and are fed for their labor. A local Chinese couple (Li Jun Li and Yao), who own the town’s grocery store, are commissioned to create a billboard. The more the twins interact with the community, the clearer it becomes: everyone needs this. To dance. To forget. To breathe.
Both twins have women they left behind. Stack had Mary (Hailee Steinfeld). Smoke had Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), a local healer with whom he had a child—who tragically died.
Then, the heat rises.
We meet Remmick (Jack O’Connell), a filthy, feral vampire who arrives at a farm where a couple’s Ku Klux Klan robes lie crumpled in the corner. In a flash, we realize: all three are vampires.
In this film, vampires are not romantic symbols of forbidden desire. They are extensions of racist white culture—creatures who drain the life out of African American communities with no remorse. Monsters, not metaphors.
The vampires arrive at the juke joint and ask to be invited in (a traditional rule in vampire lore). But Smoke and Stack aren’t naïve. They refuse. The vampires then ask Mary to come out, singing a chilling folk tune to lure her closer.
No spoilers here. But once the central characters are trapped and forced to fight for their lives, Sinners transforms into a commentary on cults, control, and spiritual warfare.
The dual mythology at play is rich. Some viewers may miss it. But those attuned to it will feel the vibration. Music as a liberator. Sound as medicine. Vibrations as power—studied by scientists, practiced in healing traditions across cultures. The music in Sinners doesn’t just move the story forward. It lifts the film into the spiritual realm.
And here’s why I believe Coogler will be nominated for an Oscar in 2026: that guitar Preacher Boy plays? It’s gifted to him by the twins. They tell him it once belonged to the legendary Charlie Patton, the preacher’s son. That detail alone could be its own film.
There’s a lot to unpack in Sinners. But here’s what matters most: the film will not disappoint you. In any way. It’s not adapted from anyone else’s work—especially not from a white man’s intellectual property. This is Coogler’s story. His vision. His creation.
And that 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes? Earned. Completely.
“Sinners” directed by Ryan Coogler. Opening April 18, 2025
Production: A Warner Bros. Pictures release of a Proximity Media production. Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian. Executive producers: Ludwig Göransson, Will Greenfield, Rebecca Cho. Crew: Director, screenplay: Ryan Coogler. Camera: Autumn Durald Arkapaw. Editor: Michael P. Shawver. Music: Ludwig Göransson. Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo.
