SINNERS, US, 2025. Starring Michael B Jordan, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Jayme Lawson, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku. Directed by Ryan Coogler. 137 minutes. Rated MA (Strong horror violence, blood and gore and sex scenes).
To judge the sinners, it is important to know what the sins are. And, in this very striking and surprising drama by Ryan Coogler, there is a range of sinners.
Once upon a time – 2013 – first time feature film director, Coogler, made a small budget film with Jordan, Fruitvale Station, which received quite some critical acclaim. It focused on the police shooting of a young black man, highlighting racist issues. Coogler has collaborated with Jordan on the two spin-offs from Rocky, as well as two blockbusters in the Marvel Universe – Creed and Black Panther. Now in a big budget, long running time movie he collaborates once again with Jordan – twice.
Twice in the sense that Jordan here plays twins, two young men from a Mississippi town who went off to World War I, returned to prohibition Chicago and became heavily involved in criminal activity, sinners, to say the least. Now it is 1932 and they return to their home town, buy an old mill from a racist owner and move to set up a jazz juke joint, especially for the African-American population of the town. This is what the first part of this film focuses on, the brothers, making all their contacts, hiring musicians, contracting friends to work, and the personal dramas from their past, past relationships.
While Jordan plays identical twins, the screenplay is something of a twins’ screenplay itself, to interrelated stories, but not identical twins. The second part of Sinners involves a different range of sins and sinners.
The film opens with the religious dimension. A talented young musician, Sam (a striking performance by Caton) comes into his father’s church. The father is suspicious of the devil’s music but tries to reconcile with his son. And then the screenplay goes back 24 hours to the first part already described. With all the publicity, but a surprise to those who saw the film without warning, most audiences will now know that this is a vampire film, an Irish vampire (O’Connell), roaming the West, pursued by Native Americans, but controlling and transforming the victims.
Then they converge on the mill. There is a siege, singing and dancing to Irish music, the contrast with the jazz at the mill, some eerie confrontations and conflicts, and an all-out battle with the vampires. And then back to the opening sequence of Sam at the church.
This is an original story, screenplay, full of the unexpected, but drawing on all kinds of movie traditions, jazz musicals, the vampire stories. Overwhelming in its way.
There is an important development set in the 1990s during the final credits which early exiters will regret they have missed. And, further alert, right at the end of the credits there is a song sung by Sammy, calming and helping the audience to leave the cinema and reflect on what they have seen and felt.
Universal
Released 20 April