Sinners

After seeing Sinners, I hope Ryan Coogler never does another Marvel movie ever again. It’s beneath him. Set in New Orleans, Sinners is the story of a young Blues guitarist, Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), who wants to escape his Reverend father’s religious hold and play his music at his cousins’ juke joint.

Sammie’s cousins are Smoke and Stack, both played by Michael B. Jordan. The pair left their abusive parents to join the military and then the mob in Chicago. After “earning” enough money, Smoke and Stack returned home, bought a farmhouse, and renovated it into a bar.

Feeling the rush to open that night, Smoke and Stack divide the work and split up with Sammie, who goes with Stack to recruit musicians. While at the train station, Stack runs into his former love, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), and on the other side of town, Smoke visits his love, Ruthie (Andrene Ward-Hammond).

By some miracle, the bar is opened, the customers flow in like the booze, and blues is on tap as if inviting a special spirit connecting the Black American music from generations from the past to the present…this present. As the night presents itself as a success, Sammie, Smoke, Stack, and their guests are approached by a sinister presence wanting to join the frivolity.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is the first top movie to come out of 2025, and it’s only April. Just know that if you thought Coogler was a master storyteller before, Sinners only shows how much he has evolved over his career and how he approaches a genre he has yet to tackle. There’s a big reveal that I’m about to spoil, so if you want to go in fresh. Stop reading here and see Sinners…I’ll wait.

“…the bar is opened, the customers flow in like the booze, and blues is on tap…”

Here’s the reveal…Sinners is a vampire movie. What Coogler does so well is meld the religious culture and New Orleans with a vampire story. The vampires are almost a religious cult. They promise immortality, fellowship, and a lot of music and dancing. Of course, it all comes at a cost, and not everyone you’ve come to love survives.

Unlike Black Panther 2, Coogler honors the traditions and lore of the vampires to a fault. You have to invite a vampire into your home. They roam at night, and wooden stakes, garlic, and crosses are all there. Sinners boasts a large cast of characters, and each is tempted and/or tormented in ways particular to their personalities.

This film is so much more than vampires attacking our heroes and figuring out how to stop them. Coogler brings artistry to the genre. The blues music is soulful and toe-tapping. The story is told on film for a rich and lush canvas of the time. Please do yourself a favor and see it in IMAX. The scenes chosen to fill the large screen feel like a dream, transporting you to a time and place that no longer exists and enhancing the very bloody final battle.

In the end, Ryan Coogler is a rare breed of filmmaker who invests fully in a story and then uses film as the medium to tell it. This story couldn’t be told without the sure-to-be award-nominated performances by Michael B. Jordan and newcomer Miles Caton, who carry the emotional through-line of the movie.

I don’t foresee ten other movies coming out this year to knock Ryan Coogler’s Sinners out of the top lists of 2025. It’s the kind of film that makes you believe we can tell serious stories, even in the realm of horror. Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton deliver incredible performances in this soulful, bloody tale that masterfully marries blues, vampires, and the vibrant spirit of New Orleans.