As a filmmaker who lives at the intersection of culture, history, and spirit, I knew Sinners wasn’t just another release, it was a moment. Opening night, I pulled up to the theater with anticipation buzzing in my chest like a Sunday morning altar call. The name Ryan Coogler already holds weight, but something about this film felt different. The title Sinners alone carries generational tension, and the trailer hinted at a layered blend of horror, hoodoo, and heritage that I hadn’t seen done with this kind of care.
As the lights dimmed and that first note of blues crawled through the speakers, I wasn’t just watching, I was witnessing. What unfolded on that screen was more than a movie. It was a mirror, a séance, a sermon wrapped in sound and shadow. If you’re wondering whether you should go see Sinners, let me give you seven unapologetic reasons why this film deserves your full attention.
1. Ryan Coogler will own 100 percent of Sinners in the future
Ryan Coogler’s vision for Sinners goes beyond directing, it’s about full ownership. While he doesn’t own 100 perent of the film yet, he’s positioned to gain full rights in the near future. That’s a powerful statement in an industry where creators often lose control of their work. Coogler’s commitment to reclaiming ownership means Sinners isn’t just a film, it’s a future legacy. Every frame is shaped by a director who understands the value of storytelling and sovereignty.
2. Michael B. Jordan delivers a duality you’ve never seen
Michael B. Jordan doesn’t just act in Sinners, he splits himself in two. Playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack, Jordan embodies light and shadow, caution and chaos. It’s a haunting mirror of our own inner duality. His performance is raw, layered, and masterfully vulnerable. Watching him navigate the blues-laced backwoods of Mississippi in 1932 while battling vampires, both literal and spiritual, is cinema at its most visceral.
3. The music doesn’t just play, it takes you on a journey through the history of Black music and culture
In Sinners, music isn’t just part of the atmosphere, it’s the ancestral pulse of the film. Rooted in the blues, every note is a portal that transports viewers through the history, struggle, and soul of Black music. From field hollers to juke joints, the soundtrack becomes a spiritual timeline, tracing the resilience, resistance, and raw emotion embedded in our cultural DNA. The blues doesn’t just accompany the story, it is the story. “The blues wasn’t forced on us like that religion was,” says Delta Slim, underscoring how this music carries generations of memory, identity, and power. In this film, music becomes the spell that awakens the past, blesses the present, and warns of what still lingers in the shadows.
How ‘Sinners’ makes history
4. A cinematic first, let me break it down in filmmaker lingo
Now this might sound like filmmaker talk, but let me explain. Sinners just made history by being the first film ever shot simultaneously on IMAX 15-perf and Ultra Panavision 70 film. That’s a big deal. IMAX gives you those towering visuals that make you feel like you’re inside the scene, while Ultra Panavision 70 gives you that wide, cinematic sweep with stunning detail. The combination creates a visual rhythm that matches the film’s spiritual and emotional depth. Because of this innovative technique, Sinners has been entered into the Guinness World Records, not just for how it looks, but for how it redefines what’s possible on screen. As a filmmaker, I had to see that for myself on opening night. It’s not just a movie, it’s a masterclass in visual storytelling.
5. The vampires are not the real monsters
This film reminds us, “The real monsters don’t come from hell, they come from history.” The vampires in Sinners are metaphors for trauma, temptation, and inherited burden. They’re what feed on us when we don’t feed ourselves spiritually. It’s not just blood they want. It’s memory. It’s identity. It’s the pieces of us that we give away, or never reclaim. That’s the real horror, and it lingers long after the credits roll.
6. Because you’ll see yourself in it
At the end of the day. Sinners isn’t just a movie, it’s a mirror. It asks what sins we inherit, which ones we commit, and what we choose to bury. We’re all sinners in some way. This film forces us to face that, but not to condemn us, to redeem us. As Yaya says in her review, this isn’t horror that screams, it sings. It sings of pain and power, of ritual and resistance. And if you listen closely, it might sing your story too.
7. It reclaims hoodoo as sacred, not scary
Forget Hollywood’s caricatures of Black spirituality. Sinners gets it right. The film treats hoodoo with reverence and accuracy, from mojo bags charged with oils and prayers to the protective salt and brick dust lining doorways. This is not superstition; it’s survival. Annie’s spiritual shop is a place of power, healing, and ancestral wisdom. Hoodoo isn’t the horror, it’s the salvation. Don’t fear YOUR POWER!!!
