Sinners

Release date (UK): 2025
| Country: US, Australia, Canada |
Running time: 137 min
| Genres: Period - Horror - Drama
| Director: Ryan Coogler |
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Saul Williams. | BBFC 15

By Jack Weir

Ryan Coogler, director of the Black Panther films, delivers an action-packed musical thriller that is the towering crescendo of his career so far.


Sinners nostalgically explores the peak of Blues music in the Deep South in 1932, with soulful melodies able to bridge the land of the living with the land of the dead. This leads to blood-curdling consequences, when vampires descend on a juke bar on its opening night; the film seamlessly evolving from a musical drama into a supernatural horror. Coogler balances numerous genre conventions with Sinners, but this functions in tandem with its musical themes, each thematic beat played at the same rhythm to create a cohesive cinematic experience.


Michael B. Jordan undertakes a dual-character role in Sinners, playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack with a skilful degree of separation. The brothers have entirely distinct personalities – one stoic and one carefree, so that an audience quickly forgets that the twins are played by the same person, even during their brawls. The cinematography is intoxicating, especially exemplified in the film’s central long take while Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) performs Blues music. The camera pirouettes around dancing patrons, effortlessly transporting us through time to embrace all eras of black musical history; both past and future.


Sinners is a fantastical love letter to Blues music and proves that all films showing in the cinema don’t have to be sequels or remakes to be successful. Sinners made £242M worldwide becoming a serious box office contender, which is reassuring for those of us tired of hearing “Chicken Jockey” in everyday conversation.

Jack Weir is a graduate of Edinburgh Napier 
University’s Film BA (Hons) course.